Cheesy Squash Soup Fondue

Clinton Kelly made two great recipes on The Chew yesterday. His Spaghetti Squash with Roasted Red Peppers recipe was meant to be a light, healthy dish you can have during the week. You can scoop every bit of squash out leaving only the skin. This is 32 calories per serving. But when it comes to the weekend, Clinton Kelly made a sinfully great savory dish, his Cheesy Squash Fondue recipe. With the squash fondue you can eat everything minus the skin. Each squash fondue is around 500 calories.

Ingredients: Found all ingredients at Sprouts

2 Acorn Squash (cut in half crosswise, seeds removed with hands)

2 tablespoons Butter

1 Leek (white and light green parts, finely chopped)

1/4 cup Mascarpone

1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

1/4 teaspoon Freshly Grated Nutmeg or ground nutmeg

2 cups Gruyere (freshly grated)

Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to Taste

Grilled Slices Baguette or sourdough (grill over stovetop or on a BBQ grill)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Cut a small piece off the bottom of the squash (very small piece as you will ruin the squash if you take too much off) so they lay flat and add them flesh-side up on a parchment paper-lined roasting pan. Season with salt and pepper.

Sauté leeks until tender, about 4 minutes, in the butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. This part Mario said was the key to Clinton’s recipe. He said any recipe that starts with sautéing leeks or onions is on its way to great success.

Stir together the heavy cream, nutmeg, leeks, salt, pepper, and Mascarpone in a bowl. Clinton Kelly said if you can’t find Mascarpone, you can use cream cheese.

Pour this cream mixture into all of the squash halves, filling about 3/4 of the way up. Top each squash with 1/4 cup of gruyere.

Cover with foil. Bake for about 1 hour or longer, until the squash flesh is tender.

Serve with grilled bread. To maximize your eating experience, scrape the sides of the squash, stirring these pieces into the creamy center. Then scoop some of this filling onto the grilled bread and enjoy the best thing Clinton Kelly ever created!

Inspired by: http://abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/cheesy-squash-fondue-clinton-kelly

Spaghetti Squash Recipe: http://neighborchicks.blogspot.com/2014/10/spaghetti-squash.html