Stuffed Butternut Squash with Pork & Rice

📝 Ingredients

• 2 butternut squashes (about 1 kg each)
• 400 g minced pork
• 150 g long-grain rice
• 1 chicken stock cube + 300 ml hot water
• 1 brown onion (about 100 g)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 3 tsp olive oil (2 for the squash, 1 for the filling)
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 80 g grated Emmental (40 for the filling, 40 for the topping)
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large knife
• Baking tray and baking paper
• Saucepan with lid
• Large frying pan
• Tablespoon

📖 Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Wash the squashes, set them firmly flat on a board and halve them lengthways with a large knife, pressing on the back of the blade. Scoop out the seeds and stringy fibres with a spoon.
2. Score the flesh in a criss-cross pattern without piercing the skin, brush with 2 tsp oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the squash halves cut side up on the baking tray lined with baking paper and roast for 40 to 45 min, until a knife slides easily into the thickest part.
3. Meanwhile, rinse the rice. Bring 300 ml water to the boil with the crumbled stock cube, add the rice, cover and cook for 15 min over a low heat, until the liquid is completely absorbed. Leave to rest, covered, off the heat.
4. Finely chop the onion and garlic. Heat 1 tsp oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and soften the onion for 4 min. Add the minced pork and break it up with the spatula for 6 to 7 min over a medium-high heat, until browned with no trace of pink.
5. Add the garlic, thyme and paprika, then stir for 1 min. If the pork has released a lot of fat, remove some of it with kitchen paper. Turn off the heat and add the cooked rice to the pan.
6. Take the squash out of the oven. Using a spoon, hollow out each half, leaving 1.5 cm of flesh against the skin so it stays sturdy. Roughly chop the scooped-out flesh and add it to the pan with 40 g Emmental. Mix and season with pepper, but don't add salt: the stock and cheese are salty enough already.
7. Divide the filling between the 4 squash halves, pressing it down lightly and shaping it into a dome. Sprinkle with the remaining 40 g Emmental and bake for 15 min at 200 °C, until the cheese is melted and nicely golden.
8. Leave to rest for 5 min, then serve half a squash per person: the meltingly tender flesh is eaten with a spoon, straight from the skin, along with the filling.