Are you tired of the same turkey—or maybe even Tofurky®—dinner for the holidays? Try mixing things up this year with our recipe for roasted butternut squash stuffed with mushrooms, bulgur wheat, nuts and raisins. And, as a festive twist on holiday tradition, we’re even skipping the cranberry sauce and pairing our veggie turkey with a blackberry-port sauce. Try it and tell us what you think!
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Stuffed Veggie Turkey Roast
preparation
- 1 large butternut squash
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 bay leaf
- fresh thyme, to taste
- salt, to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Stuffing (recipe follows below)
- Herbed Maple Syrup Butter, (recipe follows below)
Slice your butternut squash into halves and discard the seeds. Use a spoon to extend the center cavity down the length of your butternut squash to make space for the stuffing. Be sure to save the carved out squash to make your stuffing!
Stuffing of Bulgur Wheat – Mushroom – Nut – Raisin
preparation
- 200 g bulgur wheat
- 180 g butternut squash
- 80 g nut and raisin mix, chopped
- 60 g champignon mushrooms, chopped and sautéed
- 20 g green onion, chopped
- freshly chopped rosemary, to taste
- freshly chopped thyme, to taste
- freshly chopped parsley, to taste
- freshly ground pepper, to taste
- salt, to taste
- 500 g vegetable broth
- 50 g chia seeds
Cooked Bulgur Wheat: Heat some olive oil in a sauce pot and briefly toast the bulgur wheat to obtain a more nutty flavor. Then add 400 g vegetable broth, could be more, and simmer until tender.
Chopped & Puréed Butternut Squash: Cook 100 grams butternut until done. Drain and pour into a food processor and pulse to a purée. Set aside to cool Coarsely chop the 80 grams of squash. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan and add the thyme and bay leaf. Add the 80 grams of chopped squash and fry. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside and allow to cool.
Chia Seed Paste: This paste will act as the vegan binder for our stuffing. In a bowl, combine 100 g of vegetable broth with the chia seeds. Stir continuously until the chia seeds begin to absorb the broth and form a kind of paste. Allow to rest. (If you prefer a vegetarian version, you can always substitute an egg in the place of the Chia Seed Paste.)
Toss all of the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and season your stuffing mixture with salt and pepper, to taste.
Once your stuffing is ready, brush the inner surfaces of the butternut squash halves with Maple Syrup Butter.
Herbed Maple Syrup Butter
preparation
- 115 g unsalted butter
- 20 g maple syrup
- ½ clove of garlic, chopped
- chili flakes, to taste
- fresh parsley, chopped to taste
- fresh mint, chopped to taste
Melt the butter in a small sauté pan over low heat, making sure not to brown it. Then add the maple syrup and chili flakes. Use this melted mixture to brush the skin of your pumpkin before roasting. Keep the remaining Maple Syrup Butter to serve as a sauce and add the garlic, chili flakes, mint and parsley, if you like.
Next, spoon the Stuffing into one-half of the squash. Repeat with the other side. Position the other half directly over the bottom half, so that it forms a snug lid over the stuffing. Press the two halves together and secure them in place with butcher’s twine, if necessary.
Transfer the stuffed butternut squash onto a sheet of aluminum foil large enough to enclose it completely. Brush the skin of the butternut squash with the melted Maple Syrup Butter and wrap it in the foil. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/392ºF.
Transfer your Stuffed Veggie Turkey to a roasting pan or an oven-safe dish and roast for 2 hours. Meanwhile, prepare your Blackberry-Port Sauce.
Blackberry-Port Sauce
preparation
- 150 g red wine
- 100 g port wine
- 225 g fresh blackberries
- 25 g red wine vinegar
- 25 g granulated sugar
- 1 sprig of fresh rosemary
- 1 sprig of fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- salt, to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
In a medium-sized saucepan, combine the red wine, port wine, 100 grams of blackberries, red wine vinegar, sugar, bay leaf, rosemary and thyme. Reduce the mixture until half of the amount remains, then discard the herbs and sieve.
Transfer the mixture to a blender and purée until smooth. Sieve. Season your sauce with salt and pepper, to taste. If the sauce is too acidic, you can add some sugar or simple syrup. Quarter the remaining 125 grams of blackberries into segments and add them to the Blackberry-Port Sauce just before serving.
Check to be sure that the Stuffed Veggie Turkey Roast is thoroughly cooked before removing it from the oven. Once done, let it rest in the foil for 15 minutes. To serve, slice your Stuffed Veggie Turkey Roast into cross-sections. Arrange on plates and serve together with the Maple Syrup Butter and Blackberry-Port Sauce. You can also include roasted carrots, endive salad or any other vegetables you prefer on the side.