Butternut/Pumpkin/Cornbread Bake

There is a lot going on in this bake, but those three items in the title--butternut squash, pumpkin and cornbread--are my favorite parts. The full title of the dish is Pumpkin Black Bean Bake, but, as you'll see below, I made a few changes (some on accident!). The bake is supposed to be similar to a tamale pie. Yum!

I ripped this recipe out of the October 2009 Better Homes and Gardens (my mom always passes on the magazines to me), and been wanting to make it for a while. I came across it about two weeks ago, and finally decided to set it aside and make it sooner than later. I'm sure glad we did--it's really, really tasty and pretty easy.

The recipe, as the title denotes, calls for chunks of pumpkin in the bake. I didn't have a whole pumpkin on hand, but I had plenty of butternut squash (I still have three or so to use up!), so I thought I'd go with that. Also, I accidentally bought and opened kidney beans--rather than black beans--without realizing it. It turned out to be fine and taste just as good.

I'm going to give it a new name--Butternut Squash, Beef & Kidney Bean Bake:

-1 lb. ground beef

-2 cups 1/2-inch pieces of peeled butternut squash

-1 medium onion, coarsely chopped

-1 15-oz. can kidney (or black) beans rinsed and drained

-1 cup frozen whole kernel corn

-1 4-oz. can diced green chiles

-1/2 teas. salt

-1/2 cup beef broth

-1 3-oz. package cream cheese, softened

-1 8.5 oz. corn bread/muffin mix (I used a 7.5 oz. box)

-1 egg, slightly beaten

-1/3 cup milk

-1/3 canned pumpkin

-I also added a few shakes of chili powder, garlic powder and habanero powder to the meat as I cooked it

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a (very) large skillet, cook ground beef, squash and onions over medium heat until meat is browned and onion tender, breaking up ground beef. Drain fat.

Stir in beans, corn, chiles and salt. Heat through. Stir in broth and cream cheese until blended. Transfer mixture to a 2.5-quart baking dish.

In a medium bowl, stir together corn muffin mix, egg, milk and pumpkin until just combined. Spoon over beef mixture.

Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into topper comes out clean.

I put the bake together on Sunday (everything other than the cornbread topping--I did that right before I put it in the oven) and kept it in the fridge until Monday evening. I upped the cooking time to about 45 minutes. It was warm in the middle and the cornbread was done.

This was a really, really good bake--I loved all the flavors and everything together was great. We served it with a small side salad, but the meal is so filling--and covers a lot of food groups--that it probably isn't necessary.