Paleo Picadillo Casserole + How to Peel and Roast Butternut Squash

No food is more amazing than roasted butternut squash.

And no chocolate cake will change my mind on this.

If roasted correctly, the chunks get these amazing caramelized bottoms.

I can’t promise I didn’t peel off some of them before mashing the squash for the recipe I’m about to share with you.

There are worse things.

The creation of this recipe began as many do – in my kitchen. You see, at the first weekend of every month, I cook 3 shepherd’s pies for Kevin.

It’s the only dinner he likes will eat. It keeps things easy, and I can pretty much make a shepherd’s pie with my eyes closed at this point.

Problem is? I don’t like shepherd’s pie. The gravy, the potatoes… maybe it’s because I’ve made it so many times that I’m just completely turned off? Either way, as I was going on my third batch of garlic mashed potatoes, I had an epiphany.

A butternut squash, raisin, bison, epiphany.

I’ve recently learned that these are the best kind.

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Paleo Picadillo Casserole

Gluten free, Dairy free, Sugar free, Yeast free, Corn free, Grain free

The picadillo casserole is a classic Cuban beef hash recipe. Generally it’s made with bacon, ham, cumin, and oregano. But like all things, I had to switch it up a little.

Yield: 1 ginormous casserole

Servings: 10

Ingredients

The meaty parts

• 1 lb extra lean ground bison
• 1 lb extra lean ground elk *see note
• 1 cup white mushrooms, chopped
• 1 red onion, chopped – yield ~ 1 1/2 cup
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp chili powder *see note
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp Herbamare or Himalayan rock salt

The sauce

• 28oz. can diced tomatoes (with juice)
• 3/4 cup kalmata olives *see note
• 1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
• 1/4 cup whole raisins

The topping

• 2 butternut squash, peeled and chopped into rough cubes – yield ~8 cups
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 3 tbsp almond flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp Herbamare or Himalayan rock salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon baking mat.
2. Cube the squash with the directions below. Then coat with melted coconut oil, lay out on the prepared sheet and roast for 35-40 minutes, until soft.
3. Meanwhile, place bison and olive oil in a large frying pan. Scramble-fry for 10 minutes or so until no longer pink. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate.
4. Place mushrooms, onions, garlic, chili powder, cumin, and oregano in the frying pan and cook until the onions have softened.
5. Add tomatoes, olives, apricots, and raisins. Stir and bring to a boil before adding cooked ground meat.
6. Spread mixture into a greased 3 quart (3L) shallow baking dish and set aside.
7. Reset the oven to 375F and mash the squash with a hand masher or blender while mixing in almond flour, egg, oregano, and herbamare.
8. Spread on top of beef mixture. Place a decorative pattern on top with a fork and bake in 375 oven for 40 minutes.

note: you can use a combination of other meats like beef or all bison if you’d like.

note 2: don’t be scared of adding this much chili powder. I’m not a fan of spicy food and didn’t find it spicy at all. It just adds the perfect amount of flavor!

note 3: olives are technically not paleo because of high salt content. Feel free to replace with red or yellow bell peppers.

View nutrition info (now with nutrition labels!)

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How to Peel and Roast Butternut Squash

Have I said how good roasted butternut squash is?

Oh yes, I think we’ve covered that already.

To make your very own at home; because I have a hard time sharing mine – use these simple steps!

Start off with a big bowl, measuring cup, sharp knife and a veggie peeler.

And your squashes. Can’t forget those!

Begin by removing the skins with your handy dandy peeler.

There will be green vains under the skins. Make sure those are removed as well.

Tada! Okay, now do it once more with the other squash.

Now cut the end and top off.

And slice it down the middle (horizontally).

Remove all the guts with a spoon.

Or, if you’re lazy like me and you don’t want to go the 6 feet to the kitchen to get a spoon, hack at it with your big knife and get squash guts all over your living room.

awesome.

Dice the peeled and gutless squash and place in a bowl with all the ingredients. Stir it around for good measure.

Lay out onto a lined baking sheet.

Having done this a couple times now, I like the results that parchment paper gives more than my silpat. More caramelization is a win in my book!

Roast for 40′ish minutes in a 400F oven then burn the roof of your mouth in a billion spots as you test the best pieces.

Do everything else the recipe above says to do; or just eat the roasted squash from the pan with a spoon, and you have yourself a delicious, filling meal!

I generally don’t like to serve casseroles when we have guests over, but this one is a real winner with it’s amazing sweet and savory tones, popping colors, and amazing presentation.

Someone come over for dinner so I can make this again! Can’t promise your portion will have any mashed squash on it though

Tagged as: bison, butternut squash, casserole, elk, how to roast squash, olives, paleo