Kabocha Squash and Quinoa

I picked this squash up at the winter Farmers Market a couple weeks ago. I was looking for a butternut, but ended up buying a Kabocha instead. This was my first time cooking with this type of squash. I found that it was easy to prepare and had a delicious flavor. First, I cut it in half, removed the seeds, and placed it in a bowl with a small amount of water. Then I microwaved it on high for 5 minutes. Doing this made it easy to remove the flesh from the skin before cubing and sauteing.

Ingredients:
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 small onion chopped
1 cup quinoa
1/2 medium kabocha squash
3 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon flour
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1/2 cup shredded gruyere cheese
rosemary, salt, pepper
Cook quinoa according to package directions. Saute mushrooms and onion in 1 T butter and 1 T oil. Remove. Heat another 1 T butter and 1 T oil and saute squash until softened. Season with rosemary, salt and pepper. Add to the mushroom mixture. Melt remaining butter, then stir in flour and cook for about a minute over low heat until it begins to thicken. Slowly add warm stock, stirring continually. Set aside. In a casserole dish, layer half each quinoa, cheese, vegetable mixture, stock and repeat. Top with additional cheese. Kale (shown here) or spinach can also be added between layers. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes.