The Best Veggie Meal I Make: Squash and Veggie Sausage Stuffed Shells

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and Mazola® Corn Oil. All opinions are mine alone. #SimpleSwap #CollectiveBias

This is one of my favorite meals to make! I got the original recipe from here, but I swapped the chicken broth for veggie broth, the sausage for "fake" sausage, milk for soy milk, and the olive oil for Mazola® Corn Oil to make it a little lighter and better-for-you. A recent study has found that adding Mazola® Corn Oil to one’s diet resulted in lower cholesterol levels than Coconut Oil. A previous study found that corn oil can also help lower cholesterol more than extra virgin olive oil. To learn more about the study, see Mazola.com.

This post is brought to you by Mazola®! Mazola Corn Oil is an all-purpose cooking oil that can be used in so many ways, like baking, stir frying, or even in dressing. It’s nice because it has a neutral taste, so you can taste your food’s natural flavor! It also has a smoke point that’s higher (450°F) than most cooking oils. I didn't realize that all cooking oils have a smoke point that, once exceeded, can negatively affect your food’s flavor and nutritional value. So it’s definitely an important part of cooking. Oh, and one last thing: Mazola® Corn Oil is made of 100% pure oil with no additives. Yay!

Here's the recipe!

You will need:

1 butternut squash

1 small yellow onion

3/4 cup milk (can swap with coconut milk or soy milk if you want it to be even more wholesome)

3/4 cup vegetable broth

1 package veggie sausage

2 1/2 cups spinach

3 cloves garlic

12 jumbo shells

1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese

1 egg

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Additional parmesan, shredded

Mazola® Corn Oil

Salt & pepper

1. Cube the squash, cut the onion, drizzle with Mazola, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook in oven for 40 minutes. (If you don't have time for this, I have also cooked the squash in the microwave and it worked just as well!)

2. While you wait for the squash to cook, cook the veggie sausage and jumbo shells. When the sausage is done, add the spinach and garlic until the spinach is wilted. Remove from heat and cut the sausage links up into tinier pieces.

3. Mix the sausage mixture (with spinach and garlic) with ricotta, egg, and parmesan. This is the filling for the shells.

4. When the squash is done, puree it with the vegetable broth and soy milk. Pour the sauce into a 9x13 pan. Add the filled shells. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.

5. Bake covered with tin foil for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes. 

Enjoy!