Butternut squash stuffed with quinoa and mushrooms

Ingredients

• 1 pcs Butternut squash, preferably round form
• 150 g Quinoa
• 100 g Dried porcini mushrooms, crumbled or chopped in small bits
• 3 pcs Large onions, chopped
• 2 pcs Celery stick, chopped
• 4 tbsp Sesame seeds, dried, toasted
• 2 tbsp Parsley, fresh, chopped
• 2 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp Sea salt
• 1 tsp Black pepper, ground
• 300 ml Warm water

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Lightly oil a baking dish.
2. Prepare the squash: wash it and cut lenghtwise to halves. Discard the seeds.
3. Carve some more flesh out if needed extra space for the stuffing.
4. Cover the squash halves and place into the oven for the time of preparing the stuffing in the oiled baking dish.
5. Bring the water to a boil with with 0.5 tablespoon of salt. When it's hot, take 200ml out to a separate bowl and add in mushrooms to soak.
6. In a saucepan heat 1 tablespoon of oil. Add quinoa and stir.
7. When the quinoa heated trough, add 400ml of water and stir.
8. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
9. Chop onions and celery sticks and add into a saucepan with the remining oil to cook.
10. By this time, the quiona must be almost done and most of the water should have been evaporated. Drain the rest of the water. Also drain mushrooms. (Don't worry if they are not tender enough)
11. Add the mushrooms to the onion mixture, remaining salt and chopped parsley, then stir to combine.
12. Add in quinoa and season with freshly ground pepper.
13. Gently reheat the stuffing by stirring constanty. (add some water if needed to avoid burning)
14. When quinoa mixture becomes fragrant, take off from heat and fold in 2/3 amount of sesame seeds.
15. Take the squash out from the oven and fill in the mixture into the squash halves.
16. Cover and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle the reserves sesame seeds on the tops and bake an additional 5 minutes.