Stuffed squash

These little round squashes were so cute I had to buy some...  I didn't really know what they were, but turns out they are a kind of spherical courgette.  They were so pretty I couldn't bring myself to cut them up and decided to bake them whole and stuff them instead.  I wanted to fill them with fresh, summery tastes - peas, mint - so decided to try preparing the filling separately so the peas etc didn't get overcooked during the oven baking process.

2 little round squashes ('8-ball' squash)
1 cup brown rice (I used brown sushi rice as that's what we had)
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tbsp mint, chopped
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
2 tbsp sunflower seeds, toasted
1 1/2 tbsp black olives, pitted and chopped
~30g frozen edamame (a good handful), defrosted
~30g frozen peas (a good handful), defrosted
salt and pepper
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
olive oil

Put the rice in a small pan with 2 cups of water and boil for ~25 min until tender.

Cut little lids in the squashes  like you were making pumpkin lanterns.  Remove flesh from inside, leaving about 1cm thickness.  Put the lids back on, put the squashes on a baking tray and put in the oven at 400F for 20min.

Meanwhile, chop the innards.  Heat ~ 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan and then add the onion and garlic.  Fry until softened (4-5 min).  Then add the courgette innards and fry over a moderate-high heat.  A lot of liquid will come out of the courgette, so keep frying pretty high until it is all evaporated and the stuff is golden and tasty.  Season to taste.

When the rice is ready, mix the rice and onion and courgette mixture in a large bowl.  Make sure it is cool enough not to discolour the herbs, but still warm.  Add the olives, defrosted peas and edamame, toasted sunflower seeds and herbs and mix well together.  Add olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.

When the little squashes are tender to the point of a knife, remove them from the oven.  Take off the lid again, pour out any excess liquid, and fill them up with the rice mixture, so it's bulging out of the top.  Balance the lids back on top so they look cute, and eat before they get cold.




They worked out pretty good - fresh and tasty.  Lots of the inside mix is left - perhaps we can stuff some peppers with it in the same way tomorrow, or it'll work just as a sort-of risotto.