Chayote Squash Stuffed with Seafood and paired with Donnachiara Wine #FishFridayFoodies #FreakyFruitsFriday

Delicious chayote squash is used as both the vessel for serving and as part of the seafood filling in this fun, tasty dish.

This is what happens with Fish Friday Foodies collides with Freaky Fruits Friday.........



I created a little group called Fish Friday Foodies a couple of years ago.  It is one of the best things I have ever done.  It consists of a lovely group of people who get together on the third Friday of each month and share fish/seafood recipes based on a theme chosen by one of our members.  If you would like to join in the fun just leave a comment on this post that includes a link to your blog.

This month's host is Stacy of Food Lust People Love.  Stacy asked us all to

 "Create a seafood filling for baked potatoes or crepes, deviled eggs, pies, empanadas,  ravioli, etc. Get creative! What will you stuff in what? "

Before I continue on with my post let's take a look at what the others have chosen to stuff with seafood today.

An InLinkz Link-up

On another front, our member Cam of Culinary Adventures with Camilla  invited to join her in a two day event this month called Freaky Fruits Friday.  This is a sponsored event and we each received a wonderful, amazing, huge basket of Freaky Fruits from Melissa's Produce for use in creating the recipes.  In return we are expected to write a blog post about the recipes we created and give our honest feelings and opinions about the product we received.

You can see more of my Freaky Fruit Creations in this post for Dragon Fruit Sorbet,  Rambutini, and Blood Orange Prosecco.  This bounty also included a Chayote Squash.  I was unfamiliar with Chayote Squash.  I talked to the other bloggers in this event and did a web search.  Here are some things that I learned.

• Chayote squash is completely edible, including the seed and skins
• Chayote squash is also called Mirliton
• Some say it is similar to a cucumber while other compare it to zucchini
• In Latin America it is used for sweet applications, much like pumpkin, for pie
• Asian cultures use it in stir fries and soups
• Here in the USA it is a popular Cajun dish when stuffed with Seafood

BINGO!!  This led me on another search that ended at this recipe .  I adapted it slightly. I made much less than the recipe listed as it called for 10 Chayote Squash.  Having only one Chayote Squash, I placed the remaining seafood stuffing into individual little casseroles.

I also sprinkled the stuffed squash and the individual casseroles with Swiss cheese.  I know there is a faction out there that says you should not mix cheese and seafood.  I am not part of that faction.  I think cheese and seafood are lovely together.  I combine cheese and seafood in this lasagna recipe, this crab dip recipe and in my shrimp and asparagus crepes.

I found the squash to be the perfect foil for the seafood stuffing. It seemed to have little flavor on it's own which allowed the seafood to be the star.

Let's see what Freaky Fruits the others in the group are sharing with us today.

• Cast Iron Blood Orange Chicken Thighs by Amy at House of Nash Eats
• Chocolate Cupcakes with Dragonfruit Frosting by Heather at Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Cinnamon Pancakes with Blood Orange Syrup by Terri at Our Good Life
• Dragon Fruit & Papaya Pico de Gallo by Colleen at Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Freaky Blood Orange Sangria by Anne at Simple and Savory
• Passion Fruit Zombie by Sue at Palatable Pastime
• Sauteed Chayote Squash, Onions, Garlic and Rosemary by Ellen at Family Around the Table
• Seafood Stuffed Chayote Squash by Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Tex-Mex Sheet Pan Breakfast by Carlee at Cooking with Carlee
• Whole Vermilion Snapper with Fennel and Blood Oranges by Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla

One more element comes into play here.  The day before I made this recipe I received a lovely, generous shipment of wines from Donnachiara arranged through Susannah of Vigneto Communications.  Susannah writes over at Avvinare and is so very knowledgeable.  You really need to check out her blog.

Susannah was meeting with the owner of Donnachiara, Ilaria Petitto, who had generously agreed to have some of the members of our #WinePW group and our #ItalianFWT group receive this wine in return for an honest review.  

I was unfamiliar with this winery and excited to open the first bottle for this event.  I was also given a bottle of red that I will be sharing with you at a later date.  The Resilienza poured a beautiful golden yellow and the nose is floral and bright.  It is a nice dry wine that I enjoyed as dry wines are my preference.  It is soft and has a nice finish that paired well with the seafood stuffing in this dish.

If you are lucky enough to live in an area that has large wine shops, like Total Wine, you may be able to find the Donnachiara wines.  I will probably have to mail order to get more.

#shrimp, #crab, #stuffing, #squash, #chayotesquash, #mirlitons,

Entree, Seafood

Creole

Yield: 4 servingsAuthor: Wendy Klik

Seafood Stuffed Chayote Squash

Delicious chayote squash is used as both the vessel for serving and as part of the seafood filling in this fun, tasty dish.

prep time: 30 minscook time: 1 hour and 30 minstotal time: 1 hours and 60 mins

ingredients:

2 lg. Chayote Squash

2 t. olive oil

1/2 lb.  raw frozen small shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 small onion, diced

1 small green pepper, diced

1/2 stalk celery, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 (6oz) can white crabmeat

1 slice bread, pulsed into crumbs

1/2 t. paprika

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 c. shredded Swiss cheese

instructions

Place squash in a large pot and cover with water.  Salt the water liberally and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to med low and simmer, covered until tender, 45-55 minutes.  Remove from water and let cool so they can be handled.

Cut the squash in half.  Remove and discard the seed.  Scoop out flesh, reserving the shell.  Cut flesh into small dice.

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium high heat.  Add the onion, pepper, celery and garlic.  Cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables start becoming tender, about 10 minutes.  Add the shrimp and squash, cook about 5-7 minutes longer until the shrimp turn pink.  Stir in the crab and bread crumbs.  Season with paprika, salt and pepper. 

Place the squash shells onto a baking sheet and divide the filling between the shells.  Sprinkle 1 Tablespoon of  cheese over the filling and bake in a preheated 325* oven until browned, about half an hour.

NOTES:

Adapted from a recipe at Allrecipes, originally submitted by Marty Adams

https://adayinthelifeonthefarm.blogspot.com/2018/10/chayote-squash-stuffed-with-seafood-and.html

Property of A Day in the Life on the Farm

Created using The Recipes Generator