I carry no phone An aspiring Luddite In a wired world. Mastodon Verification Link	Jeff Berry is an early adopter of the Internet and the Web, a late adopter of Twitter, and declines to adopt Facebook. With the death of Google+, he migrated to the Fediverse. He admins a medievalist Mastodon instance. He hates cell-phones.

It is squash season, which means our veg box often has squash. Which means, in turn, that I spend time thinking of different things to do with squash. My wife thinks that making 'hummus' from Butternut Squash is generally acceptable. I like it, but it can get a bit samey after a few weeks. Curries are nice. So are soups. Still, the quest continues.

We got a squash two weeks ago, and didn't use it. Then another one appeared. With two, stuffing the bottoms suddenly sounded like a good idea. I had some leftover goose confit from the holidays, and the whole thing fell into place.

• one butternut squash bottom per person
  • (use the rest in other recipes, of course)
• an onion
• a handful of mushrooms
• olive oil or goose grease
• some goose confit
• bulgur wheat

Mix the softened wheat with the softened onions and mushrooms. Mix in the goose, mashing it up into shreds. Taste the filling and adjust the seasoning if it needs it. Fill the squash bottoms. This can be a little tricky, as air pockets may form. Be firm! And also poke holes with a spoon-handle or something to let the air out. Gently mound a little more stuffing on top.

Place the squash in a 180C/350F oven for 45 minutes. Test the squash with a knife and if it doesn't meet with your approval, give it some more time.

We had this as part of our delayed Burns Night dinner, and so it was served with haggis and cabbage.

As with so many of my recipes, this one is amenable to a great deal of variation and customization. If you don't have (or like) goose confit, then put it any sort of cooked meat you like, or use tofu, or skip it entirely. (Although you might want to add more lipid if you don't have something which is pre-soaked in goose grease.) No bulgur wheat? Use rice. Don't like mushrooms? Don't use them. One onion doesn't seem like enough? Use two. Or three. I would suggest not going overboard with too many ingredients, and do make sure that the stuffing has some fat in it to help cook the squash, but otherwise, the sky is the limit.