Stuffing
Happy Thursday! I’m happy you’re here, and I’m happy to remind you that Thanksgiving is exactly two weeks from today! 2019 is basically over, it’s fine.
I am having a blast creating new Thanksgiving recipes! I think it’s mostly due to the fact that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, as explained in a recent blog post. The food is just too dang good to not love this holiday. So far I’ve posted some awesome mashed potatoes, stuffed acorn squash, pumpkin pie, and a few recipes that would be great appetizers on your holiday table. There’s a little something for everyone, and new ideas are popping up every week!
So today it’s stuffing. Fun fact: I hated stuffing for the first 25 years of my life. Soggy bread and hot fruit? No thank you. That is certainly not something that appealed to my younger self. A few years ago I tried my mom’s stuffing again and I LOVED what I tasted. It’s become my favorite dish on the table, second only to mashed potatoes. Nothing will ever top those bad boys.
This stuffing is a little different from the traditional dish you’re used to seeing on the table in that this version is completely gluten free! It’s also paleo and Whole30 compliant as written. Lastly, it’s egg free as well! I wanted to try using squash to bind it all together, and I think you will agree that the end result is quite satisfying. The butternut squash will still give you your carb fix, just in a way that’s a tad healthier.
What is YOUR favorite dish at Thanksgiving? What’s the one thing that you look forward to every year, that you just can’t have Thanksgiving dinner without? Let me know in the comments below. Thanksgiving recipes are continuing to roll out of the Hungry Hungry Hiker kitchen, so make sure you check back next week to see what I’ve cooked up over the weekend! My initial thoughts are some sort of a fall salad and another dessert. Because you can never have enough dessert, am I right?
Stuffing
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 400° F. Place the butternut squash cubes in a 9" x 13" baking dish. Coat with 2 tbsp of the melted ghee and season with a bit of sea salt. Bake at 400° F for 25-30 minutes. Use a fork or a potato masher to mash the squash when it is done baking.
- While the squash bakes, add the ground pork to a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Stir occasionally, breaking up the pork as it browns. When the pork is almost browned, add in the dried sage, dried thyme, sea salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and fennel seed. Stir and saute for 5 more minutes. Remove the pork from the skillet with a slotted spoon and place in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Add the remaining tbsp of ghee to the skillet. Add the celery, onion, and garlic. Saute for 7 minutes until the onion softens and turns translucent. Add the apple and saute for 7 minutes more.
- Add in the chicken broth, pecans, cranberries, pork, and mashed butternut squash and stir to combine. Spoon the stuffing mixture into the 9" x 13" glass baking dish and bake at 400° F for 15-20 minutes until stuffing is bubbling on the sides and hot throughout. Serve hot and enjoy!
