Meatball and Winter Squash Casserole

Winter squash is coming into season and there’s something about this delightful Fall weather that has me inspired to come up with new dishes featuring this oft under-appreciated starchy fruit.  You can make this dish with just about any winter squash, including acorn squash, butternut squash, delicata squash, kombocha squash or even a mix!  It’s also good with just about any kind of ground meat.  I personally love the combination of pork with winter squash, but I’ve made this meatball and winter squash casserole with ground beef and ground turkey and both turned out great too!

Prep time:  15-20 minutes
Cook time: 20-25 minutes
Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients (squash mixture):

• 3 lbs winter squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2″ cubes (about 2lbs after peeling and seeding)
• 2 Tbsp maple sugar
• 2 Tbsp fresh sage, chiffonade
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt

Ingredients (meatballs):

• 2 lbs ground pork (or other ground meat)
• 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Toss all squash mixture ingredients together to evenly coat squash in the seasonings.  Place on the bottom of a 9″x13″ or larger casserole dish.
3. Mix all of the meatball ingredients together until thoroughly combined.  Form 1 1/2″ – 2″ meatballs and lay on top of the squash mixture.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until meatball internal temperature reaches at least 160F and squash is soft-but-not-mushy when pierced with a knife.