Thursday, August 18, 2011

Stuffed Summer Squash with Merguez Sausage and Goat Cheese – Tastes Like Not Summer Squash

I always smile when I hear chefs say you should never cover-up or overpower the natural flavors of the main ingredient. Yes, sometimes you should, and this Merguez sausage and goat cheese stuffed summer squash recipe is a perfect example.

Show me a person that would honestly claim that these lovely summer squash would have been better had we not stuffed them with spicy lamb sausage and cheese, and I’ll show you a vegan.

This is one of those recipe videos where I want you to pay attention to the concept and the simple procedure, and not necessarily the ingredients I used. There are so many varieties of squash that would work here, and ten times that in sausage/cheese combos.

These stuffed squash will be especially useful if you’re living next door to the “why the hell do they plant such a huge garden?” neighbors. You know the ones; sweet, older couple, eight kids all moved out, and yet they still plant like two acres of zucchini and crookneck squash.

The next time they leave that 20-lb basket on your doorstep, give this amazing recipe a try. Enjoy!


Ingredients:
5-6 round green summer squash, halved
4 oz Merguez sausage, or any spicy sausage
2-3 oz fresh soft goat cheese
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
salt and pepper to taste
breadcrumbs and olive oil as needed

View the complete recipe

22 comments:

rich said...

"and you know, the main problem with summer squash is that they're filled....with summer squash."


LOL

Monica Bahaa said...

i'm...well glad i didnt taste summer squash alone and i guess i'll never do....but i like the concept of the recipe...
Chef John,will this meat cheese combo work with another vegetable like red bell peppers or potatoes?

Anonymous said...

Can i use other sausages like beef black pepper sausage? In here there is no Merguez sausage.

Chef John said...

Yes! As I mentioned in the post and ingredients, anything works.

Michelle et Abigail said...

Chef John where did you find Merguez?! Loved that when I lived in France but didn't know it was old sold in the States.

Chef John said...

Very easy to find these days in SF. Most ofl the nicer butcher shops carry it.

Anonymous said...

Can i use other cheese?

Pantalone said...

Love stuffed squash. Stuffed bell peppers too.

Chef John said...

of course you can use other cheeses!

Razmig Yahniyan said...

Dear Chef John,

We don't have squash where i'm located in Lebanon and i was wandering if you think avocadoes would be a good substitute.

Thanks v. much

Razmig

Katie said...

I live in the heart of "German sausage" country and will definitely be using this recipe with some summer squash. I might be the neighbor with too big of a garden but I have a family of five that eats what I serve. Can't wait to try this recipe.

Chef John said...

Sorry, never baked avocados, so not sure! Basically it will work in anything you can stuff that would cook in 30 min.

Michael said...

if you started selling branded Foodwishes freakishly small wooden spoons as merchandise, I would buy a a whole load of them as stocking stuffers and christmas gifts.

Hugolin said...

Bravo Chef John.

Anonymous said...

I thought the point of sausage was the fat. Why not buy ground lamb if you're going to drain it? Also, I usually cook the squash innards along with the filling unless it's really seedy.

Anonymous said...

1. I second the fsws-merch idea. Would buy one for every family I know. (Totally missed the boat on the bbq sauce deal.)

2. Love love LOVE this video. I love it when you teach flexible recipes. Now I get to pretend to be a chef by coming up with my own recipe.

3. My foodwish: A foodwishes conference/workshop/festival. I adore the site and deeply appreciate you sharing your time and talent; I think that it'd be a real hoot to watch and learn from you live someday.

Cheers,
Jesse from Detroit

Tribulus said...

I think you would say yes, but can you add rice to the mix.

Berit said...

I ADORE this recipe!

My only wish is that I could find those tiny "grenade" grey squash (as my boyfriend calls them). As it is, it works great with the 2/3 the size of a zucchini grey squash I usually use.

Also, since even sweet peppers upset my stomach, I add a few oz of frozen drained spinach to be the "color and vitamin" of the mix.

Also, so excited that I can use this recipe on the ol' Diet Wagon (now that we are back on). Works great in reduced carb menus--just sub some ground nuts for breadcrumbs!

Thank you, Chef John!

Anonymous said...

Sounds delicious. But why do I have to watch a 5-minute video to get the recipe?

Chef John said...

You don't.

Kris said...

Made this for dinner today, it was amazingly great! Use acorn squash and it looked so nice. I'll be doing this again. Thanks
Kris

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad that my Google-ing of what to do with all these squash my dad brought over led me here, loved the video and they sound amazing!