Roasted Delicata Squash Stuffed with White Beans, Greens & Sage

Recently, we went to a “Harvest Dinner,” an event organized by Edible Finger Lakes, pairing local farmers with local winemakers and local chefs to create a menu and meal that celebrated the bounty from our area during the growing season. One of these Harvest Dinners occurred each month during the summer and fall, each featuring a different farm/winery/chef combination. As it so happened, the farms in our CSA were being featured in the early October Harvest Dinner! We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go — it promised to be a wonderful meal, and we were excited about supporting our CSA farmers and celebrating all the great local food resources we have available in our area. Plus, it was for a great cause  — proceeds from the dinner went to support Healthy Food for All, a program that partners with our local farms to provide subsidized shares to low income families.

I couldn’t resist sharing some pictures from the event with you here, as well as a recipe that I was inspired to create after the dinner: roasted delicata squash filled with a garlicky mixture of creamy white beans and sauteed greens, accented with autumn-y sage, dusted with a crispy topping of breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese.It was so, so delicious!

The Harvest Dinner was held in the main barn at Stick and Stone Farm; the large barn was filled with round tables topped with white linen, china, and a few plump butternut squashes and bouquets of wildflowers. What a great contrast between elegant dining and the rustic farm setting.

rustic and elegant – and absolutely lovely.

info board inside the barn: 1 share = 1 grocery bag of goodness.

Menus had been printed up for the event. Our courses were as follows:

• First Course: hand-crafted pork sausage with homemade red wine mustard and pickled eggplant, ramps, fennel & chanterelle mushrooms
• Second Course: Black, navy and red bean soup finished with arugula and sumac-scented yogurt.
• Third Course: Roasted delicata squash filled with warm root vegetables and green beans, served with a red wine & beet puree, AND spit-roasted lamb & braised goat, served with a red wine & wild mushroom sauce, roasted potatoes, and honey-braised fall greens
• Fourth Course: Star anise infused white wine candied apple, quince paste, and Watercress smoked NYS cheddar

All the courses were paired with a different wine from Silver Thread Winery. My favorites were the Off-Dry Reisling (paired with the first course) and the Blackbird (Cab Franc/Sauvignon Blend, paired with the third course). We liked these two so much that we’ve since bought some of our own to enjoy…mmm.

the menu (I squealed with delight as I read through it.)

Chefs from Watercress plating the first courses outside the barn.

first course: smoky, homemade pork sausage with red wine mustard and pickled vegetables

Chaw Chang, one of the farmers at Stick and Stone Farm, welcomes everyone

owner of Silverthread Winery speaks

the best bean soup I think I’ve ever eaten

After the second course, the sun had set and sadly, I had no light left to get any good pictures of the remaining courses. Our main course of roasted delicata squash, stuffed with root vegetables, was good (the red wine & beet puree it was served with was *amazing*) — and it got me thinking. Delicata squash, with its long, oblong shape, is a great candidate for stuffing, but I wanted to try making a stuffing for them that would be alternately creamy and a little crunchy; one that had a bit more protein in it for a nice vegetarian main dish (I am still de-toxing just slightly from all the meat we ate during my week at the CIA. Not that all that meat was a bad thing, it was just….a lot.) And so this dish was born: the squash halves are roasted while you make the filling of white beans, greens, garlic and sage, then it’s just matter of filling the roasted squash halves, topping them with some breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese, giving them a little drizzle of olive oil and heating them through in the oven.

halved, scooped out, seasoned, and ready to bake

garlicky navy beans & baby greens

pretty purple & green sage from our garden.

sunny yellow halves, tender and tasty

into the oven, my pretties

creamy, crusty and delicious.

love those dark green striations against the pale yellow skin of the squash

I served the squash halves on top of a bed of braised savoy cabbage from our garden that I had cooked with a some shallots and a little cream, butter, and a touch of grated nutmeg. I had also roasted some beets from our garden, and tossed those before serving with a balsamic glaze. And for dessert: apple crisp! It was just one of those dinners that is the epitome of fall. <Sigh>…don’t you love this season?

a lovely fall meal.

Oh, and one last thing — Edible Finger Lakes is a great magazine with articles about our local food resources and events. It’s not unique to our area: check out the Edible Communities web site to find out if there’s a magazine for the region you call home!

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an Eggs on Sunday original

view printable recipe

Ingredients
2 delicata squash, halved and seeds scooped out (you can save them and roast them for snacking!)
1 large garlic clove, minced
extra-virgin olive oil
1 15-oz can small white beans (such as navy beans), drained and rinsed
about 4 large handfuls greens – baby spinach, chopped chard, chopped collards, etc. – washed and spun dry
1 tablespoon minced fresh sage leaves
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the squash halves (cut side up) on a sheet pan or in a baking dish. Drizzle the surfaces with some olive oil, and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake in the oven until the flesh is tender when pierced with a knife or fork, about 1 hour. Remove the squash halves from the oven and set aside.

Meanwhile, make your filling: heat a little extra-virgin olive oil (about 1-2 Tbsp) in a saute pan over medium heat until hot, then add the minced garlic and saute for about 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add the greens and saute until wilted. Now add your drained, rinsed white beans and continue cooking the mixture until the beans are heated through. Stir in the chopped fresh sage, season to taste with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, and set aside to cool slightly.

Now you’ll fill the squash halves: first, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. In a small bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs and grated parmesan cheese. When the bean and green mixture has cooled slightly, stir half of the breadcrumb mixture into it — this will help bind the filling together slightly. Divide this filling mixture between the cooked squash halves, mounding it in each.*

Sprinkle the remaining breadcrumb and cheese mixture over the top of the filled squash halves. Drizzle some olive oil over the top of each squash half. Return the pan to the oven and bake the squash halves until the topping is golden, about another 15 minutes or so (check a little bit before so the topping doesn’t burn.

Serves 4.

*If you have any filling mixture left over, it makes a great lunch dish: spread it in an individual gratin dish, top with another dusting of breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese, drizzle some olive oil over the top, and bake in a 425 degree F oven until the topping is golden. It’s great by itself or spooned onto some crusty bread – yum!