Sausage-Stuffed Butternut Squash

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I always like to take time to make a special recipe on the holiday.  For me, it’s not necessarily about eating a ton or eating everything unhealthy, it’s more about eating amazing quality, more difficult to create dishes.  That usually translates to me as whole foods the way nature provided prepared in a way that I won’t typically take time to do on any Thursday night.  For me, that usually means it took a little more love and time, tastes amazing due to the flavor development, and was hard enough that I won’t get it again for a really long time.  This year, I created a stuffed butternut squash!  It wasn’t impossible, but it took more time because you have to bake the squash before you stuff it.
Stuffed Butternut Squash
Ingredients:
2 butternut squash, cut lengthwise, seeds removed
1 lb Italian sausage
1 medium onion, diced
1 green apple, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
4-5 large brussels sprouts, chopped
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup chicken stock
little bit of fresh herb chopped (whatever you like)
salt and peppr
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.  Place butternut halves face down on baking sheets with some water in the pan.  Bake for 45min-1hr depending on how large they are.  While those are baking, brown your sausage.  Once sausage is browned, add veggies and tomato paste.  Sautee for 3 min and add the broth.  Cook for another 5 min.  Once the butternut is done, take them out and turn them over. Scoop the sausage stuffing into the bowl portion of the butternut and place back in the oven.  Bake for another 20 minutes.  Garnish with fresh parsley and serve!

Pesto and Caramelized Onion Pizza

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I have posted a pizza recipe before with a different crust.  All crust that is grain-free has a different texture.  So, in my opinion, you are just searching for the most desirable characteristic for your taste.  If you like it thin, crispy, with a slight chew, then this may be your crust.  I don’t make pizza often, but if you do, then here’s my recommendation, find 4 different recipes and every Friday night for a month, make a new one and find out which one your family likes best!  I will say this one is nice because you can pick it up and eat it just like pizza, and not all grain-free options can say that.

I did not want to leave the house, and that forced me to look through what I had.  I settled on basil pesto as the sauce because I had that in the freezer from summer.  I also had three onions and couldn’t resist caramelizing them as my topping addition.  That’s it.  No cheese, no meat, and I didn’t miss them either.  You could easily use whatever topping you’d like though, so play with them!

Pizza Crust (adapted from Ancestral Table)

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups tapioca flour
  • 1/4 cup canned coconut milk
  • 2 Tbsp grassfed butter
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • pinch of white pepper
  • 1 egg, beaten

Directions:

Preheat oven to 500F. On the stovetop, over medium-low heat add the coconut milk, butter, and salt.  Stir to combine and let it heat until it just starts to boil.  Add the mixture into a bowl with the tapioca starch.  Mix in the oregano and white pepper.  Let rest for a few minutes to lower the temp of the mixture.  Then add the egg.  Use your hands to knead the dough together.  If it is glue-like, sticky and runny, add more tapioca flour until it forms a workable dough.  Place half the dough on a cast iron skillet, pizza stone, or baking sheet and spread it thin with your finger tips.  Bake in the oven for 8 minutes.  Get the pizza out, add the toppings and bake for another 10 minutes.