Loaded Butternut Squash

If, like me, you always seem to end up with more winter squash than you actually want, this is a pretty neat approach. I took some liberties with the recipe, and can report it works pretty well as a technique. Specifically I used tasso instead of ham, which worked wonderfully and points me to the idea that any strongly-flavored meat might work well. And I used supermarket cheddar which I suspect did not work as well as the specified Gruyere. I'm not sure whether the answer is better Cheddar or sticking with the recipe.

I also used a mix of smaller butternut, acorn, and delicata squash, because that's what I had on hand and quite frankly I can only barely tell the difference. Delicata is probably too delicate for the scoop-and-stuff procedure; I broke too much skin on one half and ended up just peeling it.

Personally, I think that re-stuffing the shells is fiddly, annoying work, and I'm tempted to do it as a casserole in future. In the shell is a pretty plating, though.