The Vegducken by Lauren Toyota |
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Credit: Lauren Toyota
squash
| 1 | large | butternut squash, halved and de-seeded | ||
| 4 | tablespoons | |||
| 1 | tablespoon | maple syrup | ||
| 1 | eggplant, halved and slightly hollow center | |||
| 1 | zucchini, halved and slightly hollow center | |||
| 1 | leek, trim a quarter off the top, halved, and wash dirt off | |||
| ¼ | teaspoon | smoked paprika | ||
| ¼ | teaspoon | cinnamon | ||
| ⅓ | cup | breadcrumbs | ||
| 5 | cloves | garlic, peeled |
Preheat oven to 350°F. Let the butternut squash sit flat by cutting a small piece off its base. Scoop out the flesh for stuffings, leaving about half still in tact.
Coat butternut squash in 1 tablespoon of vegan butter and maple syrup. Set aside on a baking dish.
To release moisture, sprinkle salt to eggplant and zucchini and set aside on a strainer.
Coat zucchini, eggplant, leek in 1 tablespoon of vegan butter each.
Sprinkle zucchini with smoked paprika.
Mix cinnamon and breadcrumbs. Coat eggplant with this mix.
Place garlic along the inside of one half of leek.
stuffings
| 2 | tablespoons | sunflower oil | ||
| 1 | small | white onion, finely chopped | ||
| 2 | fire-roasted red peppers, finely chopped | |||
| 1 | cup | butternut squash, pieces from above | ||
| 8 | oz | cremini mushrooms, finely chopped | ||
| ½ | tablespoon | fresh sage, finely chopped | ||
| 1 | teaspoon | fresh thyme | ||
| ½ | teaspoon | nutmeg | ||
| ½ | teaspoon | sea salt | ||
| ½ | teaspoon | ground black pepper | ||
| ¼ | teaspoon | garam masala | ||
| 2 | cloves | garlic, minced |
Heat oil in pan over medium heat. Sauté white onion and fire-roasted red peppers for 5 mins.
Add remaining ingredients to sauté until butternut squash is cooked through and most liquid has been absorbed (~8 mins).
To assemble vegducken, layer and press stuffings into each butternut half so it's more than ⅔ full.
Place an eggplant half in a squash half. Add more stuffings around the sides to fill in gaps.
Then place zucchini in eggplant. Fill zucchini with stuffings and place one half leek on top.
Begin closing off the vegducken by doing the same thing backwards—add leek, zucchini, eggplant, then squash. Hold together with twine.
Bake uncovered until a large skewer can easily go through the center (90 mins). Let it sit for 10 mins before slicing.