I subscribe to quite a few blogs and read a few more. When I do, I will often skim the posts and when something catches my eye, scroll back up and read it all the way through.
I know when I have found something truly cool when I stop and stare at the picture, just letting it sink in. This happened recently at the Caveman Cooking Creations site. It was a glorious looking dish of creamy butternut squash, savory beef and bacon and topped with onions sautéed in balsamic vinegar. Oh my God, YUM!
It is perfect for entertaining as each person can have their own boat.
I added some meatless crumbles (not pictured) and included more bacon than the recipe calls for. The recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of cinnamon. I followed the directions and used it. Next time, I’d cut it in half.
These look almost fake as they have such a rich orange color.
I fried up the bacon in two batches.
The mixture.
Scooping out the boats.
Some onions for the top.
All together. The small Pyrex dish worked perfectly.
Bacon Beef Butternut Squash
Ingredients:
- 1 Butternut Squash, ~ 2 Lbs cut in half
- 1 Lb Ground Beef
- 6 Slices of bacon
- 3 Small Onions, sliced 1 reserved
- 1 Stalk Celery, diced
- Salt
- Pepper
- 3 Tbsp Cinnamon
- Balsamic Vinegar ~ 2 Tbsp
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F
2. Cut squash in half and scrape out the seeds
3. Some people have said this is a pain in the ass to eat, I didn’t mind but if you would like, you can peel it and see if it holds up in the shape to stuff it
4. Place face down in a pyrex dish with 1/2 inch of hot water and cook for 30 Minutes
5. While its in the oven, cook the bacon in a pan until crispy, set aside and leave the bacon fat in the pan
6. Add 2 of the sliced onions and celery to the pan and then add the beef
7. Season with Salt and Pepper to taste and your cinnamon
8. Continue stirring until the beef is finished, remove from heat and place in a bowl
9. Remove the squash from the oven, when you can handle it scrape out some of the guts, leaving ~1/4 inch of squash, add squash to bowl with meat
10. Crumble your bacon and add that to the bowl as well
11. Mix well and then stuff your squashes with the beef mixture and place back in the 350 Degree oven for 20 minutes
12. While your squash are baking, add your reserved onion to your sauté pan and cook them over low heat with your balsamic to caramelize them
13. Remove squash from oven, top with caramelized onions and Enjoy
