Delicata squash boats!

This dish has it all: vegetables! sausage! bread cubes! eggs! cheese! It’s a complete meal all by itself and feels right eaten with a runny egg for breakfast, a salad for lunch, or some rotisserie chicken for dinner.

Take me to the recipe!

Delicata is the sort-of-lazy man's squash. It's not totally without prep as you have to cut it in half and clean out the seeds in the middle. But there's no peeling, because the peel is edible, which erases the most aggravating thing about squash for me.

While, obviously, the cheese, milk, and bread play a big role, the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts. The bread and nutty cheese are a nice salty, crunchy counterpoint to the sweet, soft squash while the eggs and milk add richness and the kale adds a little bitter green. 

Delicata squash boats

Time: Between 30 and 45 minutes, mostly active
Yield: 4 dinner-sized servings for adults

2 large delicata squash, washed, ends trimmed, and cut in half with seeds scooped out
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk or cream
¼ cup grated parmesan
4 large sage leaves, minced (or ½ tsp of dried sage)
4 oz stale bread, cut into small cubes
1 cup finely chopped kale
4 oz cooked sausage (or 6-8 oz of raw ground pork with a pinch each of garlic powder, onion powder, dried sage, paprika, salt, and couple of fennel seeds)
3-4 oz shredded gruyere

Preheat the oven to 400. While the oven is heating, clean the squash by cutting each log in half, scooping out the seeds and pulp in the center, and placing cut-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Roast the squash for 15 minutes, or until a fork can just pierce the outside of the squash (the squash will continue to cook, so don’t look for full fork tenderness). 

While the oven heats and the squash roasts, combine the eggs and milk in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add the bread cubes and stir to dampen all of the bread. Add the rest of the ingredients* and stir until combined and none of the bread cubes remain dry. Set aside.

*If not using precooked sausage, cook the the ground pork and spices now. Heat a glug of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and add the ground pork. Sprinkle on the pinches of each listed spice and mash around with a spatula. Cook until the sausage is browned and no pink remains, about 8 minutes.

Remove the squash from the oven and carefully flip over with tongs or a spatula being mindful of the steam. Scoop equal amounts of filling into the centers** and push down lightly. Top generously with grated gruyere and place back in the oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese is brown and melted.

**Extra filling can be cooked in a ramekin or other oven-safe dish topped with gruyere along side the squash boats.