5 Star Makeover is a cooking group of 23 food bloggers, sharing ideas and creating gourmet makeovers of ingredients or classic dishes! The group is hosted by Lazaro, of Lazaro Cooks, and Natasha, of 5 Star Foodie.
This group, of which I am a part, comes together once a month to try something new in the kitchen! Each month we have a different challenge where we have to create a dish using an ingredient or theme assigned. I only joined the group this month and I am very excited about it. All I can say is it’s going to be a lot of fun! The challenges are always due at the end of the month, and this month the theme is squash, so look forward to many great squash dishes.
One of my favorite ways to cook squash is to oven roast it. It doesn’t require a whole lot of effort and it always turns out delicious. But since this is a 5 star makeover, I decided to top my roasted acorn squash with a piece of beautiful cod fish and a coconut-squash sauce. Then I added some parmesan cheese, returned it to the oven, sprinkled on some pumpkin seeds for crunch, and the result was fantastic. I love the combination of spicy and sweet.
To see the other bloggers’ 5 Star makeover’s, simply visit one of the links below on Friday. Buen provecho!
Ingredients
(2 servings)
- For the Squash:
- 2 acorn squash, about 1 pound each
- Salt and fresh ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup of olive oil
- 1/4 cup of brown sugar
- For the Fish:
- Two 5 to 6 ounce pieces skinless cod fillet
- Salt and black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- For the Sauce:
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup of portobello mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground thyme
- 1/2 cup butternut squash, cooked
- 1 cup of coconut milk
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- Pumpkin seeds for garnish
Directions
- To roast the squash: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Cut the squash in half and scrape out the seeds with a spoon.
- Set the squash halves on a baking sheet, cut sides up, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle the brown sugar on top. Bake until tender abut 45 minutes.
- Cook fish and sauce while squash finishes roasting: Pat fish dry and sprinkle with cumin, salt and pepper. Heat butter and oil in a sauce pan over medium heat, add the red pepper flakes, garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the fish and sauté, turning over once, until browned, just cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes total.
- Transfer the fish to a plate and set aside. To make the sauce In the same pan heat the butter over medium heat. Add shallots, garlic, salt, pepper and thyme and cook 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, or until soft, stirring occasionally.
- Place the coconut milk and butternut squash in the blender and blend until smooth. Add the coconut milk-squash mixture to the pan, increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, about 5 minutes.
- o serve: Place one the fillets on top of the roasted squash halves, drizzle the sauce over top and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Place in the oven for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
Norma-Platanos, Mangoes and Me! says
Erica you really came in and wowed us with four fist challenge. Everything looks fantastic and that first picture is just perfect…..
Erica says
Tank you so much,Norma! It was fun!
Faith says
Such a beautiful dish, Erica! I love that you paired fish with squash — I’ve never done that but I bet they’re wonderful together! And that sauce sounds incredibly flavorful!
Erica says
Thank you, Faith!
Joanne says
Mmm this is coconut squash heaven!
Erica says
Thank you,Joanne!
Vijitha says
I am loving this season for the bountiful pumpkins. Lovely recipe with cod. I have never thought about combining fish with these squash. Yummy recipe.
rebecca says
love it and always adore your fish recipes
Erica says
Thank you,Rebecca!
5 Star Foodie says
Your coconut-squash sauce sounds amazing, such terrific flavors! And I love that you served the cod on top of roasted acorn squash, very pretty. Very excited to have you as part of the group!!!
Erica says
Thank you, Natasha!
angela@spinachtiger says
Looks beautiful and I was imagining how great it would taste. I almost could smell the coconut and that beautiful squash.
Erica says
Thanks,Angela!
tasteofbeirut says
That is one 5-star dish! will make it as soon as I can get a hold of an acorn here; love the flavors and the presentation is first class.
Erica says
Thank you,Joumana!
Evelyne@cheapethniceatz says
Oh that looks so amazing, great dish.
Erica says
Thanks!
Belinda @zomppa says
That’s a beautiful and inventive way to use acorn squash. Big lover of cod, being from New England!
Andrea says
I’m buying the ingredients and making this dish tonight. It looks Amazing!
shannon says
how unique! i’m intrigued by the fish and squash pairing as I’ve never done it myself 🙂 looks delicious, i’d dig right in!
Lori Lynn says
Hi Erica ~ so glad you joined the group! This dish sounds delicious and super-creative. Love the combination of squash, cod, and coconut.
LL
barry says
Hey Erica,
I made this dish tonight and it turned out great! I have a couple of questions though.
You listed 2 acorn squash however it seemed like we only needed one (two halves…one for each piece of fish).
Did you mean to put a half cup of cheese?
Thanks,
Barry
Attached is a photo.
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-MTZ5CYMQyHckdOc3RzbjdBVzQ
Anonymous says
Just made this. OH. MY. GOD. DELICIOUS. Fanciest-looking dish I’ve ever prepared, and possibly the best tasting. Thanks very much for a great recipe!
Lili R says
Wow!! Gracias por la receta! I am colombian and with my american husband buying all these different types of squash I was going kinda crazy, because i have never cooked most of them before. I just typed “acorn squash fish” on pinterest and I was glad this recipe showed up! I guess I got excited to see the blog it came from, lol. Anyways! Since people have said it tured out great I will give it a try tonight. I hope it does the same for me.. 🙂