Thursday, September 30, 2010

Stuffed Acorn Squash

 Sausage-stuffed acorn squash with apple, celery and onion.

This is one of our favorite fall meals! I'm not sure if I made this recipe up or if I read about it somewhere. Probably a little of both. But it is so yummy and we get very excited when it's on the menu!

To prepare this recipe, you will need:

  • Acorn squash- I usually prepare one half per person. 
  • Sausage - Any sausage that you can crumble and cook is fine. I used beef sausage for the squash pictured. I'm sure ground beef or even diced chicken would work. Whatever floats your boat!
  • Add-ins:  Pick several of these options or come up with your own- chopped apple, chopped celery, diced onion, cranberries, raisins, cooked rice, chopped nuts- whatever you like! This time, I used apple, celery, and onion.
  • Spices: I like garlic, salt and pepper and a little sage for this dish. 
1. Cut acorn squash in half and scoop out seeds. Save the seeds for roasting just like pumpkin seeds! Place squash cavity-side down in a baking dish. Add a little water to pan, probably about a 1/2 inch or so.

2. Bake squash at 375 degrees for 30 - 45 minutes or until flesh is soft.

3. While squash is baking, crumble and brown sausage in skillet. Add your choice of apple, celery, etc. Cook on medium heat until all items are to desired softness.

4. When squash is cooked, remove from oven. Drain water out of pan and flip squash right side up. Be careful with this; it will be hot! 

5. Fill squash cavities with sausage mixture. If you'd like, you can add a little butter to the squash before filling them. I sometimes like to drizzle a little honey over the top.

6. Return to oven for about 15 minutes until everything is hot and ready. I often make these earlier in the day so naturally you will need to lengthen the heating time if they are cold to start with.

7. Serve!

** I used about 1/2 pound of meat, 2 small Gala apples, 1/2 cup of onion and 2 stalks of celery for this recipe. It made double the amount that I needed to fill two acorn squash halves. I think I can safely say that this amount would make enough for 4. I added the extra to some cooked brown rice as a side dish. I often like to serve this dish with brown rice and some kind of cooked greens such as kale on the side.


Now, if you saved the seeds, wash them and drain them the best you can and go ahead and roast them like in these instructions.

These are great for topping salads or eating plain for a snack!

1 comment:

Tea said...

I will have to try this, it sounds good! Thanks for sharing! :)