Holiday Citrus Stuffed Squash

This Holiday Citrus Stuffed Butternut Squash is filled with the super cozy flavors of cinnamon, orange, golden raisin, maple, rosemary, salted pumpkin seeds and sticky-sweet roasted butternut.

Thanksgiving is fast approaching! Later this week I will post a complete Vegan Thanksgiving guide filled with recipe ideas. But for now, check out this elegant stuffed squash, the aroma is simply intoxicating. After eating this, you will be ready to cuddle under a giant blanket, close your eyes and collapse into holiday bliss in front of a roaring fire. Or your couch paired with some background holiday-y music will work too...

I used a golden butternut squash (because it is simply my favorite) - but any variety will work acorn, carnival, hubbard and more. My filling is made from nutty brown rice. But you could substitute with farro, quinoa, barley or even couscous if you'd like. Actually, farro would be pretty amazing.

This easy holiday recipe looks lovely when presented at dinnertime. You can make one large sized stuffed squash and slice into segments for your guests (like I did here) or serve up mini stuffed squashes so each guest gets their own cute-sized portion.

I really love how easy this recipe is. Once my squash was roasted to perfection and my rice cooked, I literally whipped up my filling in under five minutes.

The filling..:

The rice filling is delicious on its own! You could even use any leftovers in other recipes. Maybe pair some chickpeas with the rice and wrap inside a tortilla for holiday burritos. Some spicy harissa or salsa verde on the side. Yum.

Roasted, pre-stuffed butternut squash bottom:

Top of butternut squash, roasted, for cubing:

Stuffed:

And serve!..

Holiday Citrus Stuffed Squash
vegan, stuffs one medium-large butternut squash

preparing the squash:
If using butternut squash, you will want to chop off the long top and roast the top and bottom portions. For the bottom, scoop out all the seeds and rinse out any loose strands. Then brush ann the squash flesh for roasting with some vegan buttery spread and maple syrup. A few pinches of salt too. Roast at 400 degrees until tender. This usually takes about an hour. You do not need a water bath, simply place brushed squash on a baking sheet and roast. The bottom portion will be stuffed and the top will be cubed. You will use some of the top cubes in the filling. The remaining roasted squash can be seasoned and served on the side or used in another recipe.

If you are not using butternut squash, you can scoop of some of the roasted squash filling to use as the "½ cup roasted squash" ingredient below.

rice-citrus filling:
1 cup cooked brown rice (Or any grain can be substituted if you'd prefer.)
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1 medium orange, peeled / seeds removed / diced +½ teaspoon orange zest
⅛ teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped + sprig to garnish
2 tablespoon hummus (any variety, plain or garlic flavors work well)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoon golden raisins
2 tablespoon shelled pumpkin seeds (salted. roasted or raw)
½ cup roasted squash
a few dashes of cayenne (to taste)
salt and pepper to taste

Optional:
½ cup onion, diced
½ cup bread cubes (to give a more "stuffing" sort of flavor and texture
¼ cup apples, diced

Nutritonal Info - just filling, does not include squash shell (entire filling recipe above, no add-ins):

Directions:

1. Start your squash roasting according to directions above. You will want to make sure it cools a bit before stuffing. You do not want it to fall apart.
2. Prepare your brown rice. You can also use pre-cooked rice for super fast prep.
3. In a mixing bowl, mix together all the filling ingredients until soft and the rice is well-marinated. It should be a nice clumpy consistency.
4. Not simply start filling your squash with the stuffing.
5. You can serve warm as is, or place in a warm oven to stay warm until ready to be served steamy hot.

Garnish with fresh herbs like rosemary or thyme.