We’ve teamed up with Melanie Brown Nutrition to bring you some tasty recipe inspiration to boost male fertility. A balanced diet rich in different vitamins and minerals plays an important role in sperm health so Melanie has made sure all of these recipes feature key nutrients to support fertility. This baked stuffed squash includes ingredients and antioxidants to boost sperm quality.

The Mediterranean diet is widely accepted to support fertility. Wholegrains, pulses, nuts seeds, olive oil and fruit and vegetables are at the heart of this sun-drenched way of eating. In particular, tomatoes are great for sperm because they are high in lycopene, an antioxidant carotene that is protective of sperm and prostate health. There is a growing body of evidence linking lycopene to improved sperm quality.

This stuffed squash recipe is packed with Mediterranean flavours and contains plenty of tomatoes to provide the lycopene boost. Pairing tomatoes with olive oil is a good way to increase your body’s take-up of the antioxidants in the dish.

Ingredients

• 2 medium squash or pumpkins
• 110g quinoa
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp dried mint
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 heaped tablespoon of nutritional yeast
• 50g pitted black olives, chopped roughly
• 1 medium onion, diced finely
• 2 cloves of garlic, grated
• 2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
• Juice of half a lemon
• Handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 300ml vegetable stock (or a stock cube or bouillon with 300ml of hot water)
• Feta (optional)
• Sea salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and then prepare the squash. Cut in half if using butternut squash and scoop out the seeds. For acorn squash or similar, cut off the tops and scoop out the stringy middle. Place on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes or until softened. Leave to cool.
2. Meanwhile, soften the onions in oil and add the garlic cloves with the cinnamon and dried mint. Add the tomato puree followed by the quinoa. Pour in the vegetable stock, nutritional yeast and cover with a lid until soft (and the liquid absorbed).
3. Stir the olives, pine nuts, flat-leaf parsley and lemon juice through the quinoa and season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Stuff the squash with the quinoa mixture and bake in the oven for 15 -20 minutes until everything is heated through. Sprinkle a little crumbled feta or extra nutritional yeast and serve with steamed vegetables or salad.

Keep an eye out for more fertility focused recipes in the next couple of weeks and don’t miss our next male fertility webinar where Melanie Brown will join Prof Sheena Lewis to discuss the impacts of diet and lifestyle on sperm quality and fertility.