Vegan Squash Petit Farcis

This week we had the pleasure of continuing our monthly restaurant recipe features at Betts, a perfect new spot in The Kimpton Schofield Hotel at the corner of E. Ninth and Euclid in downtown Cleveland. Betts is your good morning meal, your afternoon staple, and your place to dine for dinner, drinks and linger a while. Centered around classic American dishes with an emphasis on freshness, quality, and healthy whole foods, Betts is your go-to in the neighborhood. We brought Chef Robert Stauch this week's Perfectly Imperfect Produce box and he transformed it into a delectable dish!

At Betts, their goal is simple; create a menu featuring thoughtfully sourced ingredients, mix it with a creative approach to a healthy lifestyle, add a dash of much deserved indulgence, and pepper it with genuine hospitality. The recipe Chef Stauch created using our imperfect ingredients accomplishes ALL of that just perfectly!

"Farcie" means stuffed in French. This method can be used with a number of vegetables like tomatoes, any type of squash or onions. In this version Chef used 8 Ball squash AKA squash balls from our box, and made a vegan filling with a beautiful cauliflower rice and “nooch”. “Nooch” is a term used to describe nutritional yeast, he used it to mimic the umami flavor of cheese. Of course some good parmesan could be used in its place. Don’t forget to save all your vegetable trimmings to make your own delicious vegetable stock. Chef collects all his scraps to do exactly this.

Vegan Squash Petits Farcis

The What:

4 each Perfectly Imperfect 8 ball squash

1 small head Perfectly Imperfect cauliflower, riced

½ Perfectly Imperfect spanish onion, small dice

2 small Perfectly Imperfect sweet peppers, small dice

1 Perfectly Imperfect roma tomato, small dice

1 Perfectly Imperfect small yellow tomato, small dice

2 tablespoons avocado oil

1 teaspoon nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon parsley, chopped fine

1 teaspoon chives, chopped fine

1 teaspoon basil, chopped fine

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

As needed vegetable stock

The How:

Start with the squash. Trim a little off the bottom, so that the squash sits flat and upright. Trim the top about a ¼ of an inch from the stem. With a spoon, carefully hollow out the seeds and make room for the filling. Set aside.

Remove the green leaves from the cauliflower. Cut it into quarters, leaving the stems. With a box grater, grate the florets of the cauliflower using the stems as your “handle”. Grate until you reach the stems. This method of ricing gives you a small enough product to use as “rice”, but still big enough to have great texture.

Dice and chop your remaining vegetables. Have everything ready to go, "mise en place." In a saute pan add one tablespoon of avocado oil. Heat to a medium heat. Add in your onions, peppers and tomatoes, saute until translucent. Add in your riced cauliflower, cook until it begins to soften. Add in your herbs, salt and pepper. Drizzle the remaining avocado oil over the squash and season with a little salt and pepper before stuffing.

Stuff your squash with the cauliflower filling and put the tops back on. Place squash on a cookie sheet or a shallow baking dish and add a small amount of vegetable stock. If you have left over stuffing bake alongside the squash. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until desired tenderness.