I think this is a perfect main course for your winter dinners and lunches, especially for the Thanksgiving spread.
My dear fiend, the renowned chef Ana Sortun brought me again honey-nut-squash to Cyprus (!) where we met recently for yet another wonderful Oldways trip.
Here on Kea I cook them together with quince, and you can do the same, or use them as a substitute, in case you cannot get the fragrant old apple-like fruit, which is for us the epitome of the Mediterranean winter.
I had the chance to taste this incredible, sweet squash, whose skin is also edible, at Oleana, a few years ago. Ana introduced me to this exciting variety that they cultivate at her family’s Sienna Farms. I so much envy my American friends who can get these absolutely fantastic mini butternut squash, or honey-nut-squash as they are called, which have been developed by Michael Mazourek, a plant breeder at Cornell University, in collaboration with the visionary Dan Barber.
I adapted the stuffing for quince I have in my Mediterranean Vegetarian Feasts (page 156) omitting the tomato sauce. The stuffing is scented with the enticing Lebanese 7-spice blend and to this version I also added turmeric.
If you are going to stuff only squash, I suggest you add some tart apple to the stuffing, or spike its sweetness with pomegranate molasses. You can, of course, use spicy sausage for flavor, since the original idea for this sumptuous vegan dish came to me from the traditional, meat-filled Turkish quince.
If you like, you can bake the stuffed squash and quince on a bed of Roasted Quince and Carrots; the combination is wonderful.
For a simpler main course I suggest my Squash, Leek and Cheese Tart, or the very easy Crustless Squash Pie. For meze you can make the Lebanese-inspired Pumpkin ‘Hummus’.
But if you have time and want to make a special, festive treat I suggest you prepare the traditional Greek Pumpkin Preserves cutting the squash with the special, decorative cutter.
RECIPES:
Mini-squash and Quince Stuffed with Wheat Berries, Nuts and Raisins
Crustless or ‘Naket’ Squash Pie
Pumpkin ‘Hummus’ (or tahini babaganoush)
Pumpkin or Squash Preserves (Rossoli)
