I was inspired to come up with this recipe after reading Dorie Greenspan’s recipe for Pumpkin Stuffed With Everything Good. It’s actually stuffed with lots of non-Paleo badness (but it sure sounds tasty). I decided to stuff a Kabocha squash that was taking up real estate on my counter with more Paleo-friendly ingredients. Dorie’s recipe takes ~2 hours to cook which is totally unacceptable to me so I nuked my squash to halve the cooking time. Kabocha is a starchier and drier squash, so definitely add chicken broth to the stuffing before baking it.
Time to make Pork and Spinach Stuffed Kabocha Squash!
Serves 3
Ingredients:
- 1 (2-pound) Kabocha squash
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil, avocado oil, ghee, or your favorite cooking fat
- 2 large shallots, minced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 tablespoon Tabil seasoning (or your favorite seasoning blend)
- 2 cups frozen spinach
- ¼ cup chicken broth
Equipment:
- All of my recommended kitchen tools are listed here.
Method:
Take the top off the squash and scoop out the seeds.
Season the inside of the squash with salt and pepper. Put the squash upside down in a microwaveable container, add a splash of water, cover with a lid, and nuke for 8-10 minutes to soften.
In the meantime, prepare the filling. Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add the minced shallots and sauté until they are translucent. Throw in the minced garlic and stir it around until it is fragrant (~30 seconds). Add the ground pork and cook until it’s no longer pink.
Season the pork to taste with salt and pepper and stir in 1 tablespoon of Tabil.
Add 2 cups of frozen spinach straight from the freezer (buy the bagged stuff, not the frozen block) and stir everything until the spinach defrosts.
Remove the squash out of the microwave and place it on a foil lined baking tray. Fill the squash up to the top (I had about 1/3 of the filling left over that I will chow on later this week).
Add the chicken broth to the filling and cover with the top of the squash. Place the stuffed squash in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the flesh is easily pierced with a knife.
Henry and I split it in half…
…and ate it with some sliced tomatoes and nuked green beans flavored with butter, salt, and pepper.
Tasty and quick. If you haven’t noticed, those are my two favorite adjectives for a dish.
Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my iPhone and iPad app, and in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2021).
PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD
Pork and Spinach Stuffed Kabocha Squash
Ingredients
- 1 2 pound Kabocha squash
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil or fat of choice
- 2 large shallots minced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 tablespoon Tabil seasoning or your favorite dry seasoning blend
- 2 cups frozen spinach
- ¼ cup chicken broth
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut out the top of the squash and scoop out the seeds.
- Season the inside of the squash with salt and pepper. Put the squash upside down in a microwaveable container, add a splash of water, cover with a lid, and nuke for 8-10 minutes to soften.
- In the meantime, prepare the filling. Heat the coconut oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add the minced shallots and sauté until they are translucent. Throw in the minced garlic and stir it around until it is fragrant (~30 seconds).
- Add the ground pork and cook until it’s no longer pink. Season the pork to taste with salt, pepper, and the dry seasoning.
- Add the frozen spinach straight from the freezer (Tip: buy the bagged stuff, not the frozen block) and stir everything until the spinach defrosts.
- Remove the squash out of the microwave and place it on a foil lined baking tray. Fill the squash up to the top (I had about 1/3 of the filling left over that I will chow on later this week).
- Add the chicken broth to the filling and cover with the top of the squash. Place the stuffed squash in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the flesh is easily pierced with a knife.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Oh man… delish!!!!! My 6 and 9 year old kids even loved it!! I used an All American Seasoning that a local guy sells on the sausage mixture. I added celery to the onions and garlic, too. I think mushrooms would work really well, too!!! Because I didn’t have any of my homemade chicken broth, I added a small amount of chicken bouillon to a store bought organic bone broth and used that, instead. SO. GOOD. I’ve never had this type of squash before. It’s not as sweet as acorn or butternut, but it was very flavorful and went well with the sausage. Thanks!