Stuffed Red Kuri Squash with Mushrooms and Cheese

📝 Ingredients

• 1 red kuri squash (about 1.5 kg)
• 150 g stale country bread
• 250 g button mushrooms
• 1 leek (about 200 g)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 4 eggs
• 200 ml semi-skimmed milk
• 150 g grated Emmental (110 g for the stuffing, 40 g for the top)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• Salt, black pepper, nutmeg

🍴 Utensils

• Large knife
• Tablespoon
• Large frying pan
• Mixing bowl
• Ovenproof dish

📖 Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 190 °C. Wash the squash without peeling it: the skin becomes tender as it cooks. With a large knife, cut out a lid about 12 cm in diameter around the stalk, angling the blade towards the centre so the lid doesn't fall in.
2. Scoop out the seeds and stringy fibres with a tablespoon, then scrape out a little flesh to enlarge the cavity, leaving walls at least 2 cm thick all round. Roughly chop the flesh you've removed and lightly salt the inside of the squash.
3. Cut the bread into 2 cm cubes. Split the leek in half lengthways, rinse it under the tap to wash out any soil, then slice it thinly. Wipe the mushrooms with damp kitchen paper, without soaking them, and slice them. Chop the garlic.
4. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Fry the mushrooms for 5 min, until their liquid has evaporated and they are golden. Add the leek, squash flesh, garlic and thyme, then cook for 5 min over a medium heat, until the leek is soft.
5. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the milk, a pinch of nutmeg, ½ tsp salt and some pepper. Add the bread and stir so it soaks up the mixture, then fold in the slightly cooled vegetables and 110 g of Emmental. Leave to stand for 5 min so the bread absorbs the liquid.
6. Place the squash in the dish and fill it to the brim with stuffing, pressing down lightly. If there's any left over, put it in a small dish and bake it alongside for the last 30 minutes. Put the lid back on and bake for 1 h.
7. Remove the lid, place it alongside in the dish, sprinkle the stuffing with the rest of the Emmental and bake for another 15 min. It's done when the cheese is golden and a knife slides easily through the skin into the flesh; if not, give it another 10 min.
8. Leave to rest for 5 min after taking it out of the oven so the stuffing firms up. Cut the squash into four wedges at the table with a large knife, giving everyone their share of flesh, stuffing and a piece of the lid.