As promised – a step by step of how you can make what I had for lunch yesterday… the low carb, grain free, gluten free delicata squash and meatball combo of a faux meatball sub.
FIRST OFF, 2 Confessions:
1. This is REALLY similar to the low carb Halloween Faux Monkey Brains Recipe, but it’s put here to serve a point. I hope you make up your own toppings and flavor combos for this too.
2. I don’t really like real meatball subs. Used to get them as a kid, but haven’t ordered one in over oh…. let’s say 20-30 years?
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s get on to the goods! First, select a 8-10″ long delicata squash – you don’t want this to be too huge or it will take too long to cook and/or take over the dish. And if it is too small you won’t be able to put as many meatballs in it, which would be tragic. Speaking of meatballs… I hope you already made a batch of them from the new basic Primal meatball recipe.
How to Prepare and Bake Delicata Squash
Cut the delicata squash longways. If you’ve been diligent with the the care and honing of your chef knife, now is the time to bask in that glory. If you haven’t then REALLY be careful doing this. The squash can be hard to cut in half with an inferior, abused knife. And shame on you. Stop in at a kitchen supply store (a real one, not like bed/bath) and get a honing steel and decent chef knife. Hone it often. Ok sorry about the preaching. Scoop the seeds out with a spoon. Rub the insides of the squash with coconut oil or olive oil. Coconut oil is especially tasty on this though. Bake for approx 45-50 minutes in the 350 Degree Oven. By the way, the skin on delicata squashes are delightfully thin and can be eaten, so choose organic and enjoy the nice texture and extra fiber.
When the squash is done baking, it should be fully cooked, plenty soft when poked with a fork, and maybe a little browned on the edges… like below:
Think of all the other things you can stuff in these delicious edible containers! I’m already thinking up all kinds of things. Let me know what you come up with ok? Back to the project at hand.
How to Assemble Your Meatball Sub-Inspired Stuffed Delicata Squash Boats
Other than bacon, I also have severe weakness for this great tasting organic pepperoni from Applegate Farms – the slices are big, so I cut them into quarters so they’ll stay in place in the squash half:
Since I made the meatballs yesterday, I reheated them in a pan with some impromptu red sauce – basically a diced tomato cooked down a little with Italian herb blend, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt+pepper. Heat it all through – simmered – no biggie. Or use a prepared sauce that doesn’t have any junky ingredients. I fished out the meatballs and added them:
Optional goat cheese crumbles! Feel free to use your favorite cheese, or no cheese!
Finally, add the red sauce to bring it all together – I then went for extra credit and broiled it to melt the cheese and get the sauce bubbling. It was really good and I ate it all, except for the little stem on the squash.
Additional Idea… Broccoli, Bacon and CHEESE!
Here’s what happened to the other half – I ate it today – filled with bacon pieces, sauteed broccoli and topped off with Beyond Organic raw milk cheddar cheese. Too easy!
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