Well, the cold season is upon us. Between the earlier sunset and chilly breezes whipping around the city lately, I've been cooking all the comfort food I can. Of course, as usual I have a bunch of recipes to share and just not enough time to type them all up, but since I just made this one tonight and it was fresh on my mind I decided to share.
It took me about an hour total to make the entire meal, which included prep and cooking time... not too bad for something as warm and delicious as this! It is fairly similar to a stuffed squash recipe I shared last year, but with a few alterations that actually results in an easier recipe and more delicious result. This recipe, like the one last fall, is made with ground pork. Yes, I am obsessed with it. For some reason it seems to be my favorite comfort food meat. Not sure why. But you could easily substitute another ground meat for the pork. Go ahead, get creative!
Well, here it is... I must say, I ate mine very quickly :)
Stuffed Acorn Squash with Balsamic Baked Pork
- 2 lbs ground pork
- 2 acorn squash
- 1 leek, diced
- 2 cups braising greens mixed with 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 clove minced garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/8 cup beef broth
- 1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 cup mozzerella cheese
- 1/8 cup Parmesan cheese
Halve and de-seed the squash, put in oven at 450 for about 10 minutes. Cook until slightly soft, then set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
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Meanwhile add leeks and garlic to a pan, cook for 2
minutes, then add greens, pork and spices. When pork is only slightly
pink turn off heat and add remaining ingredients. Mix well and put
aside.
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Scoop out a little of the squash filling and save for another purpose (smoothies, hash browns, etc.)
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Add pork filling plus 1-2 tbsp of juices from the pan
drizzled over the meat. Top with grated cheddar cheese and put 1 cm of
water on the bottom of the baking dish.
Bake at 350 until cheese golden brown. Eat with a side of applesauce and enjoy!
