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This is another unplanned recipe. I needed to un-stuff the overstuffed fridge stat. With roasted pumpkin and butternut squash already sitting there along side a gorgeous orange cauliflower, it was time to get down to some serious stew business.
If making this strew from scratch, I warn you, it’s time consuming. I had the advantage of the already roasted butternut squash and pumpkin. I also roasted the cauliflower and after making the turkey bacon, I added a teaspoon of butter and caramelized the onions in the same pan before adding them in.
Pepitas and the seeds I roasted from the butternut squash added crunchy goodness. This stew has delicious bright fall flavors. It was the perfect dinner after a long Sunday walking around the city.
The problem came when I went to photograph the stew. My point and shoot I use for this blog seems to have grown legs and wandered off for an adventure of it’s own so I used the camera on Dr. B’s Blackberry. Please excuse the photos, they do not do the dish justice.
Tomato, Pumpkin, Butternut Squash,
Turkey Bacon Stew
Turkey Bacon Stew
Ingredients:
- 1 28 ounce can of sliced tomatoes in water
- 1 cup pumpkin puree*
- 3 cups organic vegetable broth
- 2 cups roasted butternut squash pieces*
- 1 package of turkey bacon (about 9 slices)
- 1 medium size head of cauliflower broken up into floret
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 1 large sweet onion, chopped
- 3/4 cup pepitas
- 1/2 cup roasted butternut squash seeds*
- 1 + 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon sumac
*Instructions follow
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large pot add the tomatos, pumpkin and veggie broth over a very low flame.
- Line a baking sheet with foil and spread out the cauliflower florets, brush with oil, sprinkle with salt and place in the oven.
- Heat up a large frying pan and fry up the turkey bacon.
- While the cauliflower is roasting and the turkey bacon is frying, add the butternut squash and stir.
- Mix in the spices.
- Remove the turkey bacon from the pan, add a teaspoon of butter to the pan and throw the onions in.
- When the turkey bacon has cooled completely, chop into pieces and add it to the stew.
- When the cauliflower has softened a bit, remove from the oven and add it to the pot.
- After the onions have caramelized, add them to the stew.
- Bump up the heat to medium and add the pepitas and roasted butternut squash seeds.
- When stew comes to a boil, dial the heat back down to low and simmer for about 30 minutes.
For the pumpkin puree:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Cut a sugar pie pumpkin in half, remove the stem and place the two halves in a roasting pan.
- Add about a half inch of water to the pan and place in the oven.
- When pumpkin is completely soft (about 40 minutes depending upon the size of the pumpkin) remove from oven and let cool completely.
- Remove the seeds (set them aside for roasting later using the same method as the butternut squash sees below) and the stringy pulp.
- Remove the skin on each of the pumpkin halves and blend in a food processor on high until pureed.
For the roasted butternut squash:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place squash in a pan and place in oven for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes remove the squash from the oven, wrap it in a dish towel and slice it into 4 or 5 large pieces.
- Place the pieces back in the oven and continue roasting another 20 minutes (or more depending upon the size of the squash) until soft.
- Remove from oven and let cool completely.
- Scrape out the stringy pulp and seeds, setting the seeds aside.
- Peel and cut into chunks.
For the roasted butternut squash seeds:
(I always roast the pumpkins seeds as well but I had used them for something else so I used the pepitas I had in the cabinet for the stew.)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line a backing sheet with foil.
- Spread seeds out on the baking sheet.
- Brush 1 – 1+1/2 tablespoons of vegetable oil making sure both sides are coated.
- Sprinkle with salt and place in oven for 20-25 minutes or until seed turn golden brown.
4 comments
I am well familiar with the abysmal Blackberry phone, and I think you did a splendid job considering! This looks so hearty and satisfying, mmmm.
Looks wonderful, actually kind of similar to a soup I made last week, with bits and bobs left over from various meals. Butternut squash with sweetcorn and bacon, but with bits of leftover potato thrown in. It was fantastic, but like you said, would be time-consuming to replicate from scratch. I guess we just have to enjoy the serendipity when it strikes and not go looking for it! 🙂
Looks great, even without your proper camera 🙂 Anything with butternut squash works for me!
I disagree about the Blackberry photos. I think the stew looks wonderful.