This week the children were ready to get down to business as soon as they arrived at class. We began by talking acorns.
As a child when I would play “restaurant” with my cousin, acorns went into many of our dishes-whole, cracked with just the little orange balls (“pumpkins” as we called them), or mushed with a stick. My daughter has inherited this love of the tiny seeds and was excited to cook with something called “acorn squash”. You might, before you start this recipe, take your Yummy out for a nature walk to gather the little nuts that are so prevalent right now on the East Coast, gather a few, and then take those to the market or grocery with you when you buy the acorn squash to compare and discuss.
Even the smallest of the mini-chefs helped with this dish, and there was quite a bit of sampling going on in the midst of making the stuffing: “One bite for me, two for the bowl. Two bites for me, one for the bowl.” For class, we almost always make enough of everything so that tastings like these may be encouraged. Our little friend TT even went home with a package of the leftover Lebanese cous cous to snack on later since he was so happily chowing it in class.
Stuffed squash can be served as a simple supper or as a side dish for your Thanksgiving table. These can be made a day ahead of time and heated up just before being served. My advice is that you double the stuffing recipe, add some stock, and make a soup out of half of it. Just sayin’.
White Bean and Lebanese Cous Cous Stuffed Acorn Squash
*4 small acorn squash, halved and seeded
*8 t. brown sugar
*4 T. butter or olive oil + 2 T. for sauteeing the onions
*salt and pepper, to taste
*2 c. Lebanese cous cous (also known as “Isaraeli cous cous”)
*4 c. vegetable stock, chicken stock, or water
*2 c. dried white beans, cooked***
*1 c. pumpkin or squash puree
*1/2 c. whole wheat bread crumbs
*1/4 c. parmesan cheese, grated
*1/2 c. sliced almonds (optional)
*1 large or 2 small onions, chopped
*2 cloves garlic, sliced
*1 T. fresh rosemary, finely chopped
*2 t. fresh thyme, finely chopped
Big Person: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
With Mini-Chef: Place four squash halves on each baking sheet. Inside the little bowl of each, place a teaspoon of brown sugar and a pat of butter. Salt and pepper the squash, and, Big Person, slide them into the oven to bake about 40-45 minutes, or till the flesh is very soft.
Big Person: Bring the stock or water to a boil in a medium sized saucepan. Add the cous cous, lower the heat and let simmer till very soft, about 8-10 minutes. Stir, take off the heat, and set aside.
In another saute pan, heat up 2 tablespoons of butter or olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the onions to the pan, and cook, stirring from time to time, till soft and translucent. Throw in the rosemary, the thyme and the garlic and cook another couple of minutes, stirring. Once they’re done, take them off of the heat and set aside to cool.
Together: In a big bowl, stir together the white beans, bread crumbs, parmesan, the pumpkin puree and the onion mixture along with some salt and pepper, to taste. Keep the Lebanese cous-cous separate for now. Let your mini-chef add one ingredient at a time and stir well with each new addition. When all of that is mixed together well, then you can choose to keep the mixture as is or to puree it. It tastes delicious either way, but one texture might be more pleasing to you and your Yummy. Next, add the cous cous and fold it in gently.
When the squash has been take out of the oven and cooled for about 10 minutes, use an ice cream scoop or a large spoon to put a mound of the the stuffing into the bowl of each acorn squash halve. Put the squash back in the oven and bake another 10-15 minutes. When the top of the stuffing has become a little golden, the stuffed squash is done. Pull them out, allow to cool for a few minutes and serve.
***While you can certainly use 4 c. canned white beans for this recipe, cooking your own is much more economical. Also, the process of plumping up the dried beans will be fun for your Yummy to help out with and witness. To cook the dried beans, you’ll place them in a large bowl, pick through them to throw out any bad beans or little stones, and cover them in water two inches above the top of the beans. Add a teaspoon of baking soda to the water and stir. This will help prevent, well, the issues that often occur with eating beans and also add tenderness to the beans when cooked.
After soaking the beans for 8 hours, drain and rinse them. Put them in a big pot and cover them with water by about 2 inches. We add a tablespoon of garlic powder to the pot as well, but that is up to you. Bring the water to a boil and then simmer for as long as it takes to get the beans very soft, about 2 hours. Check on the beans from time to time, adding water to the pot if necessary.
