Just Another Mom HQ

Just another Mom's guide to a healthy lifestyle

Autumn Butternut Squash Crust Quiche with Sausage and Kale

 

Ahh fall, the crunchy leaves under our feet, the beautiful colors, pumpkin spice…

Sorry to interrupt your daydream but…

I love making quiche as a make ahead meal, it is a great option for a busy night when there is not time to cook.  It’s also a great grab and go breakfast!

For the crust of this quiche I used butternut squash, but you can use any sturdy vegetable.  Think sweet potato, any winter squash, even regular potatoes or beets.

To get started slice the bulb shaped end off butternut squash.  Peel both parts of the squash, and remove seeds.  Slice the long part of the squash into thin rounds, the bottom half into thin slices.  Toss them with salt, pepper and a touch of oil and lay them in the bottom of a pie pan or skillet being sure to overlap them to form the crust.  If there are holes don’t worry, the eggs we add later will help it stay together.

Roast the crust in the oven until squash softens and begins to brown.  Set aside.

For the filling, remove the casings and brown your chicken sausage in a bit of oil.  Alternately you can use cut up breakfast sausage, or fully cooked chicken sausage, just brown it in a pan to get some extra flavor.

While your meat is browning throw in the other vegetables, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper.

Once the sausage is browned and onions, peppers and kale are softened remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

Crack the eggs into a bowl, season with salt and pepper.  Now add the milk and beat the eggs for a minute or so.  Stir in cheese if you are using it (a tablespoon or two of nutritional yeast would be a great sub for the cheese if you can’t have it) then add in the sausage mixture.  Pour the whole works into your squash crust and bake until eggs are set, about 20-25 minutes.

My kids even enjoy these quiche so I usually don’t mess around with a single batch, instead I double the recipe and use a casserole pan.  Just be sure to adjust baking time accordingly (5 minutes more is the most I have added).  Please forgive my pictures it seems my quiche always gets hit before I can snap a proper shot.

You can make this ahead and serve at room temperature, straight out of the oven or refrigerator, or reheated.  It’s a great grab and go breakfast or a nice make ahead dinner.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Instapot Italian Beef Ragu with Butternut Squash Noodles (squoodles)

Italian Beef Ragu with Butternut Squash Noodles

Happy New Year!!  I am always sad to take down our Christmas tree and decor.  At the same time I prefer my stand up paddle board to my cross country skis so being one step closer to Spring isn’t so bad either!  This year I am hoping to share more recipes and insight with you, including Instapot recipes!  This recipe can definitely be made stove top as is traditional, in a slow cooker or in your Instapot or other pressure cooker.

Traditionally this delicious slow simmered Ragu would be prepared stove top, simmered over several hours.  For Christmas Day I prepared this recipe with a slight variation stovetop (recipe here) and we enjoyed every delicious bite on some chewy delicious parpadelle pasta.  Yes actual gluten loaded pasta…and it was divine.

[amazon text=Amazon&asin=Today in keeping with my more paleo-ish lifestyle I have prepared it with spiralized Butternut Squash.  The earthy sweetness of the squash paired super well with the deep beefy tomato yummyness.  I also grabbed my Instapot for this one as I was rather short on time and it didn’t disappoint!  I chose to leave out the tomato paste that I had used on Christmas in my more traditionally prepared Ragu as sometimes the tomato paste can burn to the bottom of your Instapot.

For the preparation, turn your Instapot on sauté.  Cut your roast into 4 equal size chunks, season with salt and pepper.  Once your Instapot is hot sear 1 or 2 pieces at a time browning on all sides (2-3 minutes a side).  Then set aside.  Next sauté the “sofrito”, carrot, celery and onion in a bit of olive oil and a pinch of salt and a pinch of black pepper for about 5 minutes to really develop the flavor.  Add garlic, oregano and thyme and continue to sauté for an additional minute or until fragrant.

Deglaze the pan by pouring in 3/4 cup of a good dry red wine, I had a Spanish Tempranillo open so I chose that for my sauce.  Let it simmer for a minute or two or until the liquid reduces just a little.

Pan full of Butternut Squash Noodles

Now add the beef, beef stock, and tomatoes to the veggies and wine. I usually wait until the end to salt as there is salt in the tomatoes and the stock and as it reduces it will concentrate the salt flavor.  Lock cover on Instapot and press manual then adjust to 20 minutes on high pressure.  While your Ragu is cooking grab your spiralized and spiralize your Butternut Squash.  Any pieces that couldn’t be spiralized save for squash fries or squash hash or whatever your desired preparation.  Toss your squash with a tablespoon of olive oil and a touch of salt and pepper and roast in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.  You should have plenty of time for this step as it takes a while for your pressure cooker to come to full pressure (up to 15 minutes).

After the 20 minute pressure cook is complete allow to natural release for a minute or so then flip the valve to manual release.  I use my Instapot on my stovetop with a cutting board under it, so I can use my fan to vent steam, etc.  I really don’t want to damage my cupboards while releasing steam or smoke the house up searing meat!  Okay once your steam is all released and you can safely open your pressure cooker turn it off, then back on the sauté high.  Remove meat and shred while the sauce is reduced until it thickens.  Then toss Squash Noodles  (squoodles) into the sauce and let it cook for a minute or two longer.  Season to taste with salt and pepper, pile it on your favorite pasta plate, hit it with a grating of Parmesan or Pecorino and enjoy.

Cheers!

Italian Beef Ragu with Butternut Squash Noodles

PS:  Don’t let the wine you opened go to waste.  If you don’t enjoy drinking it be sure to freeze it in ice cube trays for future recipes.

PPS:  There was an error in the original recipe, I have since reduced the beef broth on the recipe from two cups to one.  Sorry for any inconvenience this caused!

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