Stuffed Carnival Squash with Wild Rice, Cheddar, and Apples
Can we talk about kitchen disasters? About food experiments gone awry? And things that in theory, should be delicious, but just aren’t?
Those things happen to everyone who attempts to cook, whether they’re a pro or a novice. Sometimes even more often when you’re an experienced cook, because you get daring and excitable. Now I don’t consider myself a pro, but daring and excitable? Check, check. Mostly just excitable. Sometimes I get ideas that I think will be the best thing ever, but turn out, in reality, to be the okayest thing ever. After many years of this kind of thing happening in my kitchen, I sometimes get a little foresight as this is happening. It usually happens when I keep thinking, “And what if I add…?” And I keep repeating that thought one too many times. I know I’m going overboard but I just. can’t. stop.
That was happening with this recipe. I was feeling all sassy and creative, as if I was the first person in the world to pair apples and cheddar, or squash with *gasp* wild rice, and I got this little whispery feeling between my ears saying, “Oh no…just stop, girlfriend.” So I just chilled out a bit, stuffed my filling into my squash and shoved the whole thing in the oven, very glad that I had a back-up bag of broccoli in my freezer.
Imagine my surprise when we LOVED it. Really loved it. In a way that’s kind of unexpected in our house for anything that doesn’t contain bacon or any kind of slow-roasted meat or chocolate. It just worked. The cheesy, creamy filling was perfect against the orange-fleshed, sweet squash. The bits of cheddar melted into the rice and stuck to the perfectly cooked-through apples. The cream made the filling almost risotto-like, but the wild rice really kept its chewiness beautifully and didn’t turn mushy at all. We liked it enough that I made it again with acorn squash when my parents came for dinner the other night, and they liked it to. It reminds me a little bit of the stuffed pumpkin that I’ve made in the past, and I think the filling might be really good in a small hollowed-out pumpkin, too. This would probably even make a nice vegetarian main, if that’s your bag. I think you’ll really love it. I can’t say it’s the best thing ever, but it’s pretty darn close.
Stuffed Carnival Squash with Wild Rice, Cheddar, and Apples
Ingredients
- 1 large carnival squash (or acorn squash), cut in half horizontally and seeds scooped out
- 1 cup cooked wild rice
- 1 apple, chopped
- 6 oz cheddar cheese, cut into 1/8" cubes
- 1/3 cup whipping cream
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Season cut side of squash liberally with salt and pepper. Put in a baking dish, cut sides down. Roast for 40 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine rice, chopped apples, cheddar, and whipping cream in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Scoop the filling into the center of the par baked squash, piling it up a bit if necessary.
- Return to the oven, and bake for another 30-40 minutes, or until the top is golden and the cheese is bubbling up. Let the squash sit for 5 minutes before serving.
- To serve, you can either quarter each half and serve it that way, or scoop out the filling along with some of the flesh of the squash.