Sauteed Butternut Squash with Ground Beef/Pork (Ginisang Kalabasa)

When I was still in the Philippines and living with my family, this dish was on our table every week. We truly love squash in the Philippines and this particular dish can be found in any cafeteria or canteen all over the country. It's a favorite for lunch or dinner! It's also pretty cheap to prepare yet quite nutritious.

I am glad that I am not the only one who enjoys this dish. My husband who I thought would not enjoy this Filipino dish at all absolutely love this! My kids, especially William, love to eat this too.

Often butternut squash is considered more as a dessert ingredient or a side dish usually spiced with cinnamon and sweetened with syrup or brown sugar. However, butternut squash is actually a wonderful accompaniment to meat especially with pork or beef. It's natural sweet flavor complements the meat and marries well with seasonings such as soy sauce or fish sauce. The squash provides some sweetness to an otherwise very savory dish.

I use my Giniling Recipe (Ground Pork Sauté), a basic foundational recipe for a lot of Filipino dishes, for this one. Once you have made it, all you need to do is add the prepared squash and then cook it until tender. A very simple yet truly flavorful dish.


Ingredients

1 butternut squash (peeled, seeded and cut into inch-long chunks)

1 Recipe for Giniling (Ground Pork Sauté). Link here.

Procedure

If you plan to use the entire butternut squash, then I suggest using the entire recipe for Ground Pork Sauté. But if you plan to use only half of it, then half the Ground Pork Sauté should be enough. Adjust the amount of the ground pork recipe to how much butternut squash you wish to use.

To the cooked Ground Pork Sauté, add the butternut squash. Cook by simmering until the squash is tender about 10-15 minutes.

Another vegetable that complements squash is green beans or Asian long beans. If you wish to make this combo - cut the beans to about 2 inches in length and then cook it with the squash. Cook until the beans are tender but not mushy. Alternatively, you can opt to just use the beans on its own. The beans are an excellent accompaniment to the Ground Pork Sauté too!

Enjoy with steaming hot rice!

This is featured at Wednesday Extravaganza. and Weekend Potluck.

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