Venison Stuffed Shells with Apple and Butternut Squash Sauce

I love the combination of squash and apples. The melded flavors are comforting, warm, savory, and just a little bit sweet. I think when the duo is mentioned many people think of a pie, a sweet and rich auburn pie served for Thanksgiving. But squash and apples don’t always have to be a dessert. They can create a rustic, homey dish like this Venison Stuffed Shells with Apple and Squash Sauce.

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This dish takes a little bit of time to pull together, but the end result is worth the effort. To start, cook a medium sized butternut squash in oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes. I cut the squash in half and place the squash cut side down on a large baking sheet. You can also line the sheet with aluminum for easier clean-up, as sometimes the squash weeps a little when roasting.

Remove the squash from the oven and let cool slightly before handling. I like to play Russian roulette with the squash and try to pick it up before it has properly cooled, usually resulting in burned hands, but that’s just me.

While the squash is cooling, prepare the venison sausage for stuffing the shells with. In a large skillet over medium heat, add some cooking oil, I like to use olive oil for this particular recipe but work with what you have. Once the oil is heated, add a medium diced onion and cook for five to seven minutes, or until the onion is soft. Next, add in the venison Italian sausage.

I make my own sausage. I grind the venison with bacon ends at a ratio of 80% meat to 20% bacon ends. This gives the sausage a nice fat content that isn’t overly greasy or fatty, but keeps the sausage moist when cooking. I season the sausage with salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper flake, Italian seasoning, allspice, garlic and onion powder, and plenty of fennel seed. I also add touch of brown sugar to sweeten it up a bit.

This recipe requires a pound of venison Italian sausage. Add the sausage to the onions and cook thoroughly, about five to seven minutes again. Once the sausage is cooked through, add a half cup of chopped pecans, a tablespoon of fresh minced sage, and a tablespoon of fresh minced rosemary. Stir together, turn off the heat, and set aside to cool.

While the sausage mixture is cooling, cook your pasta shells. I used jumbo pasta shells for this recipe, but you could also use manicotti. If you are really ambitious, you could make these into raviolis as well. Cook the shells to al dente, where they are soft but not falling apart.

Drain the shells and set aside to cool. As with the butternut squash, I played Russian roulette with the shells and tried to stuff them before they were cool enough for handling. It didn’t feel great.

Wow there are a lot of steps here, but bear with me, it is going to be worth it. Return to the cooled sausage mixture and mix in a container of ricotta cheese. Set that aside.

Back the squash! Scoop the squash guts into a blender and add a little salt and pepper for flavor and half cup to three quarters of a cup of stock. I used a vegetable stock. You could use chicken too if that is what you have on hand. If you were really fancy, this would also be a perfect opportunity to throw in some homemade bone broth.

Blend the butternut squash into a smooth puree. It should still hold together, so add the liquid slowly until you reach a consistency similar to the applesauce. Add the butternut squash puree to a large skillet with a cup of unsweet apple sauce. Turn the heat on medium low and stir until the sauces are combined. Slowly drizzle in a quarter cup of heavy cream and stir until a smooth, creamy, orange sauce forms. Add a cup of parmesan cheese and mix until completely melted.

Stuff the shells with the sausage mixture. Spoon a quarter of the apple and butternut squash sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Set the stuffed shells on top of the sauce. Once all the shells are set, pour the remaining apple and butternut squash sauce over the top and then sprinkle on a layer of mozzarella cheese. Bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit preheated oven for 30 minutes, until the cheese is gooey and the sauce is bubbling!

And now! Time to enjoy! This dish is creamy, rich, and savory. It has hints of squash and apple layered with cheesy goodness and fresh herbs. It is one of my favorite dishes to serve for a crowd because it is easy to make large batches and is incredibly filling.

Happy Hunting!

If You Like This Dish, You Might Also Like….

Wild Turkey Tagliatelle

Pheasant Carbonara

Pronghorn Pumpkin Ale Chili

Kumamoto Oyster Shots

I just finished what is quickly becoming a yearly trip to Washington state. Last year, I visited the San Juan Islands and fished Haro Straight, located along the western border of San Juan Island. This time, I stayed with my sister who just purchased a house along the shorelines of south Puget Sound. And like my last excursion to the Pacific Northwest, the fishing did not disappoint.

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Minds are like oysters. They spoil if you pry them open. ~Willa Gibbs

Being from the desert, Washington is like visiting a foreign country. There are monstrous trees towering over salty blue water. The weather can only be described as refreshing, and it is a much appreciated break from the arid 100 degree days of the southeastern Utah desert. Heading outdoors is an unfamiliar experience: all the animals and plants are basically strangers.

While at my sister's, we caught salt water fish, a far cry from the lake trout I am accustomed to. The first fish pulled onto the boat was a dogfish. The dogfish is definitely an inappropriately named creature, as it is actually a shark. This "fish" definitely has the teeth of a shark, so it is not a hard animal to identify. But like I said, pulling that onto the boat was a very different experience from reeling in a rainbow trout.

As with visiting any foreign place, not only were the animals and plants different, but the food was also a completely different experience. I don't often get to experience seafood, much less fresh seafood. Sure, I have had my share of shrimp, most of which are farm raised. Our super market also carries a variety of fish, such as salmon, tilapia, and cod. As with the salmon, most of these are farm raised and have been frozen for a significant amount of time. I still partake if a sale is happening, but not often. And those frozen, farm-raised fish can not compare to the fresh, catch of the day fish I experienced while visiting Washington.

One of the more unique dishes I tried was the Kumamoto oyster. The Kumamoto oyster originated in Japan, but somehow my sister has them growing right in bay in her backyard. When the tide was low, we ventured out into the muddy bottoms and dug clams and oysters. Kumamotos, known for their surprising sweet flavor and beautifully sculpted shells, are one of the most popular oysters for eating. I have tried oysters in restaurants before, and I was very hesitant to give them another chance. I would best describe them as, well, for lack of a better word, snot. I was not a fan of the taste, texture, or even sight of the oysters from my past dining experiences.

As I am the first to admit I am not a fan of oysters, I will also be the first to admit that I have misjudged the Kumamoto based on my prior experiences. I have stereotyped all oysters to be disgusting and that was not fair of me. Kumamoto oysters are simply fantastic.

Before shucking the oysters, allow them to sit covered in salt water. You can do fresh water, but you should not soak the oyster for more than 20 minutes since the fresh water will kill them. I know that sounds counter-intuitive, as you are going to be eating the oyster so why do you care if it dies, right? In order to preserve the flavor of the oyster and to keep them from drying out, you don't want them to be dead before consuming them. So, back to cleaning the oysters! Cover them with salt water and allow to soak. I let mine soak for a couple of hours. During this time, the oysters will filter water through their bivalve system. This filtration process is how the oyster eats. He pulls in lots of sand and filters out microorganisms for dining on. This process is also why oysters and clams are very sandy. Nothing is worse than biting down on a gritty, sandy oyster!  By placing the oyster in a bucket of water, the creature will filter like it normally does but without the ocean bottom to take in, it will eventually filter all of the sand out. It works amazing and is a step worth taking when preparing clams and oysters.

Since this was my first time preparing fresh caught oysters, I had to learn how to shuck them properly. It isn't too difficult, but practice definitely makes it easier, so does a shucking knife. Having only shucked two oysters at this point in time, I think this link provides a better tutorial on how to get your oyster on the half shell for eating: How to Shuck an Oyster!

While the Kumamoto is a fantastic tasting oyster, this slightly spicy sauce was what took the culinary experience from fantastic to phenomenal! In a small bowl, mix together a tablespoon of each of the following ingredients: sriracha, lime juice, minced garlic, minced shallot, rice wine vinegar, and soy sauce. This will dress a dozen or so oysters, but you can make as much or as little of the sauce as you need, just follow the simple rule of equal proportions for each ingredient.

This kumamoto oyster shooter sauce is simply sriracha, lime juice, minced garlic, minced shallot, rice wine vinegar, and soy sauce.

Drizzle the sauce over the oysters on their half shell, add a few thin slices of green onion, and slurp that baby down! The combination of the slightly spicy vinegar sauce and the sweet piece of oyster is perfection. They texture of the kumamoto is tender, but not chewy. The sauce creates this beautiful balance of spicy and sweet, but there is also a salty element created by the ocean water in the oyster. It is one delicious bite. And I followed it with just a few more!

Happy Hunting! (And Oyster Harvesting)

Yield: 12

Author: a 12 Gauge Girl

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Kumamoto Oyster Shooters

Plucked directly from the sea, these kumamoto oyster shooters are spicy with a kick of lime and garlic.

Ingredients US Metric

• 12 shucked kumamoto oysters
• 1 Tablespoon sriracha
• 1 Tablespoon lime juice
• 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 Tablespoon minced shallot
• 1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon soy sauce

Instructions

1. Once oysters are shucked and cleaned, leave on shell for drizzling sauce over.
2. In a small bowl mix together the sriracha, lime juice, garlic, shallot, rice wine vinegar, and soy sauce.
3. Taste for desired heat level. If more heat is desired slowly add more sriracha.
4. Drizzle sauce over oysters and enjoy!