Moroccan Beef & Pumpkin Bake

By GratefulSea

I will probably substitute butternut squash for the pumpkin, just to save a bit of prep time.

Ingredients

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 pound extra-lean ground beef
• 2 cups 1/2-inch pieces peeled pumpkin or winter squash
• 1 medium red sweet pepper, coarsely chopped (3/4 cup)
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (1/2 cup)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
• 1/2 cup couscous
• 1 recipe Moroccan Spice Blend (see below)
• 1 cup 50% less sodium beef broth
• 4 oz reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel), cut up
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup fat-free milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Snipped fresh mint (optional)
• Toasted pumpkin seeds (optional)
• Moroccan Spice Blend
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Details

Servings 6
Preparation time 30mins
Cooking time 50mins
Adapted from recipe.com

Preparation

Step 1

Prepare the Moroccan Spice Blend -
In a small bowl stir together 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp coriander, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp cinnamon.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat an unheated large nonstick skillet with cooking spray. In skillet cook ground beef, pumpkin, sweet pepper, onion, and garlic over medium heat until meat is brown and onion is tender, using a wooden spoon to break up meat as it cooks.

Drain off fat. Stir corn, couscous, and spice blend into meat mixture in skillet. Heat through. Add broth and cream cheese, stirring until well mixed. Spoon mixture into a 2-quart baking dish.


In a medium bowl combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl whisk together milk, egg, and oil; add to cornmeal mixture all at once. Stir just until moistened. Pour batter over beef mixture in dish.


Bake about 20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into topper comes out clean. If desired, garnish with mint and pumpkin seeds. (Don't skip this part--the flavor and texture make a real difference.)