Honeynut Squash for Simchat Torah
It is common to eat food that are stuffed and resemble Torah scrolls for Simchat Torah, which marks the completion of the reading of the Torah. At my shul in Los Angeles, I loved that during the day, the Torah would be unscroll as much as possible across the room so that we could see it in its entirety and walk alongside it. Another cycle that I’m completing with this blog post is 10 years of Neesh Noosh. Thank you to everyone who has read from the beginning, joined at some point in the past ten years or is a new reader.
There’s an abundance of different types of squash and pumpkin at the farmers market now so choose whatever one you can find. They’re all delicious! Honeynut squash is squat and has a small “seed cavity” which means less space for filling but more squash. This stuffed honeynut squash recipe highlights the sweet flavor, delicate consistency of the squash and it can be served as as a side or multiply the recipe to serve as an entree. Scroll further down for all of my Shmini Atzeret and other Simchat Torah recipes!
Ingredients:
1 large honeynut squash
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup of an assortment of dried fruit, cut into small pieces. I used apricots, prunes, dates and raisins
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Preparation:
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut slides into the sides of the squash for ventilation. Place on a baking sheet and bake for approximately 30 minutes (will vary depending on size). Make sure a knife can cleanly cut through it.
- Meanwhile, make 1/2 cup quinoa. Let cool.
- Chop the dried fruit and mix with the cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.
- Add the quinoa to the fruit mix.
- When the squash is cool to handle, cut open and remove seeds. Add generous amounts of the quinoa mixture.
B’tayavon v’chag sameach!
S
Simchat Torah quiche
hmini Atzeret: Nopales and Tomatillo
Simchat Torah:
Stuffed cabbage
Portuguese sugar wafer cookies
Stuffed eggplants
Zucchini quiche
Eggplant rounds