Baked Squash Empanadas.

I have been thinking about how to use squash in a new way {new to me at least!} for the CSA and farmers market squash we have been collecting. For this recipe, I used one delicata squash and one sweet dumpling squash – but any combination will work.

Baked Squash Empanadas
1 Tablespoon butter
1.5 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot
2 cloves garlic
3 links of apple chicken sausage
1/2 bag spinach
1 delicata squash
1 sweet dumpling squash
3 ‘ready-bake’ pie crusts
1/2 cup marinara {for a sauce}
1 egg, 2 teaspoons water {for egg wash}

How to:

1) Peel, de-seed, and cut your squash into 1/2 inch cubes to prepare for roasting. Roast the squash in 15 minute increments at 375 degrees, stirring at each interval. The roasting time will depend on your oven and the type of squash – my delicata squash finished roasting in 20 minutes, and the sweet dumpling squash was done in 30 minutes {I roasted them in separate pans}.

2) While the squash is roasting, boil the apple chicken sausage for 25 minutes. Remove carefully from the water, and saute in a teaspoon of olive oil on medium-low for 10 minutes.

3) Finely chop the shallot and garlic and saute in 1 T. of olive oil and the butter for one minute. Add the spinach and let it wilt on low heat – stir when needed. 

4) Cut the chicken sausage into small pieces. Once the spinach has wilted, mix in the chicken sausage and roasted squash.

5) Roll out the pie crust and cut circles {I used a cookie cutter} to your desired empanada size. It works best if you roll out the crust a bit thinner than it comes in the package. Otherwise the crust may overwhelm the taste of the filling.

6) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Put 2-3 Tablespoons of filling in the middle of a dough circle. Cover with another dough circle and pinch the empanada shut at the edges. Brush egg wash on the top of each empanada.

7) Bake for 10 minutes. The empanadas are ready when the crust is browned on the bottom and slightly browned on the top. This recipe makes ~12 empanadas, depending on the size of your dough circles.

PS: Use marinara sauce for dipping!

{Adapted from All Recipes – Squash and Kohlrabi Empanadas}