Stuffed Pork Loin With Butternut Squash And Blue Cheese Recipes

MUSHROOM STUFFED PORK TENDERLOIN

Steps:

• Start by prepping the pork. Carefully slice halfway through the middle of the tenderloin and fold it open. Then use a meat mallet to pound out the meat. Pound it until it has an even thickness, getting it as thin as you can. Season both sides generously with salt and pepper, and set aside. Heat your oven to 375 degrees. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a dutch oven over medium heat. Once melted, add the shallot and saute for 2 minutes. Then add the garlic, mushrooms, and 1 tablespoon thyme. Season generously with salt and pepper, and let cook for 5 minutes. Then add 1 cup white wine and continue cooking until the liquid has been absorbed. Cut butcher's twine and arrange it under the pork tenderloin, it's easiest to do this before out start adding the mushrooms. I like to place the twine about every 2 inches so that nothing falls out of the pork. Add a layer of mushrooms on top of the pork, placing them in the center of the meat and not too close to the sides. Then place the blue cheese on top. (You will have mushrooms leftover - that's good!) Wrap the pork up around the mushrooms and blue cheese and tie the butcher's twine up tight. Mix one tablespoon butter, the mustard, and the remaining thyme together, then spread it over the outside of the rolled up pork tenderloin. Wipe out the dutch oven with a wet paper towel if necessary. Then heat the olive oil over high heat. Once hot, add the pork. You want to sear all sides of the meat, this will take about 2 minutes per side. Once the meat has seared, pour 1 cup white wine, 1 cup chicken broth, and the mushrooms in to the bottom of the pan. Place a lid on the dutch oven and then place it in the oven to bake. The pork needs to cook until it reaches at least 145 degrees. This will take about 15 minutes. Once a meat thermometer inserted into the pork reachest 145 degrees, remove it from the dutch oven and set it on a plate to rest. Heat the mixture of pan drippings, wine, broth, and mushrooms over a burner and let simmer and reduce for 5 minutes to create a gravy. Slice the pork tenderloin and serve with the gravy.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH-STUFFED SHELLS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Add the squash, shallot and garlic to a baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil and toss to combine. Sprinkle with the thyme, sage, 1/4 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper and toss again. Roast until the squash is tender and light golden, about 30 minutes. Let cool.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil; add salt. Add the pasta shells and cook until al dente according to the package directions. Drain and let cool.
• Squeeze the roasted garlic into a small food processor or blender, add the squash, shallot and vegetable broth and puree until smooth.
• Mix together the spinach, cream cheese, ricotta, red pepper flakes, 2/3 cup of the Parmesan and 1 tablespoon salt in a large bowl. Stuff about 2 tablespoons of the spinach mixture into each shell; set aside.
• Add the pureed squash mixture, heavy cream and butter to a large skillet over medium heat. Cook, whisking frequently, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the nutmeg, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and the remaining 1 1/3 cups Parmesan.
• Spread the cheese sauce into the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Arrange the stuffed shells in the baking dish seam-side up, shingling them so they all fit (you should have 5 shells along the short side and 6 shells along the long side). Top with the mozzarella. Bake until the cheese is melted and bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes. Top with more Parmesan and sage before serving.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND PORK LASAGNA

Steps:

• For the pork ragu: (This can TOTALLY be done ahead!) Place the garlic, celery, onions and fennel in a food processor and puree to a coarse paste.
• Coat a large, wide pot with olive oil and toss in the pureed veg. Bring the pan to a medium-high heat and season generously with salt and a sprinkey dink of crushed red pepper. Cook the veg until they start to get brown and form a crust on the bottom of the pan; be patient...this will take a little time. Scrape the crud off the bottom of the pan and let it re-form. Stay with it and DO NOT let it burn.
• Add the ground pork, sprinkle with salt and repeat this process. This takes patience...accept it and move on. THIS is where BIG flavors are formed.
• When the meat is nice and brown, add in the tomato paste, stir to combine and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the white wine and let it cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Toss in the pureed tomatoes, bay, cinnamon stick, thyme and 2 cups water. Taste and season with salt if needed. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer until the liquid has reduced by half, add more water and reduce again. Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed. Turn off the heat and use immediately or store for future use.
• For the lasagna: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Working in batches, toss the butternut squash slices with olive oil and salt. Lay the squash slices on sheet trays and bake until the squash is tender but still holds its shape, about 20 minutes. Repeat until all the squash is roasted.
• Coat a large saute pan with olive oil, toss in 2 of the garlic cloves and a pinch of crushed red pepper and bring the pan to a medium-high heat. When the garlic is golden and very aromatic, remove it and toss it in the "thank you for coming bowl". Add half of the mushrooms to the pan, season with salt and cook until they are soft and wilted. Remove from the pan and reserve. Repeat this whole process--starting with the oil and garlic--with the remaining mushrooms, followed by the spinach in 2 batches. Drain and cool the cooked spinach in a colander or mesh strainer.
• In a large bowl combine the ricotta and parsley.
• To assemble: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place a ladleful of the pork ragu in the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and spread it around to LIGHTLY cover the bottom of the dish.
• Arrange an even layer of the roasted squash on top of the ragu; be sure the squash completely covers the surface of the baking dish--this acts as the "pasta". Cover the squash layer generously with more ragu. Spoon 1-tablespoon scoops of the ricotta mixture over the ragu. Arrange an even layer of spinach and mushrooms over the ricotta. Sprinkle with the grated Parmesan. Lay another layer of squash over the Parmesan and repeat the process until the baking dish is full, ending with a top layer of squash topped with a little ragu and Parmesan.
• Cover the baking dish with foil, place on a sheet tray and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 10 minutes more. Remove from the oven and let rest for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

CHEESE-STUFFED PORK TENDERLOIN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet.
• Mix green onions, bacon, Cheddar cheese, cream cheese, spinach, mushrooms, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Spread onto one side of pounded tenderloin. Roll tenderloin around the filling in a jelly-roll fashion. Coat rolled tenderloin with bread crumbs; place on the prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until pork is no longer pink in the center, about 1 1/2 hours. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 145 degrees F (63 degrees C).

SAUSAGE-STUFFED BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place squash halves in a shallow pan and cover with water.
• Roast in the preheated oven until tender, 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool partially, about 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir sausage in the hot skillet until browned and crumbly, 5 to 7 minutes; do not drain fat. Add onion and garlic to sausage and cook and stir over medium-high heat until onion has softened, about 5 minutes.
• Remove flesh from squash, leaving 1/3-inch flesh in the shell to keep it sturdy. Mix squash flesh, sausage mixture, Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, parsley, oregano, and cayenne together in a bowl. Stuff squash shells with mixture.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.