Stuffed Acorn Squash
As the weather turns colder winter squash become plentiful in grocery stores and farmers markets. Acorn squash is one of our favorites as they are naturally sweet when roasted. They also make a perfect “holder’ for an autumn inspired stuffing. We love to serve these stuffed acorn squash when entertaining family and friends since they can be made ahead and finished off just before serving.
Filled with chicken apple sausage, apples, onion, celery, bread crumbs (optional), parmesan and sage they serve up a nice balance of savory and sweet for a delicious combination of flavors. This recipe is super flexible. Use a different type of sausage, or skip the meat and opt for a vegetarian stuffing. If you choose an uncooked sausage, make sure you saute and roast it thoroughly to ensure doneness. You can also switch out the cheese for your favorite; we love to do half parmesan and half romano. Feel free to swap out the sage for a bit of cinnamon or nutmeg for a warm holiday flavor.
If you are cutting carbs or gluten you can skip the breadcrumbs, or use a gluten free breadcrumb. Not enough breadcrumbs? You can add up to a cup in this recipe! Add a drizzle of maple syrup towards the end of you want to sweeten things up a bit. The possibilities are endless.
I often serve these stuffed acorn squash with additional grilled/sauteed sausages and a salad. For a super easy fall-themed salad, toss together greens, pecans, blue cheese, and dried cranberries or sliced apples. I love a simple apple cider vinaigrette on this salad. Just combine cider vinegar, canola or olive oil, honey, and salt in a mason jar. Shake it up and you are good to go!
Stuffed Acorn Squash
Ingredients
- 3 acorn squash
- olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped fine
- 2 celery stalks chopped fine
- 1 large or 2 small apples diced
- 3 links chicken apple sausage diced
- ½ tsp sage
- ⅕-¼ cup panko bread crumbs
- ½- 1 tbsp butter optional
- ¾ cup parmesan cheese plus some for sprinkling on top
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°
- Slice off the ends of the acorn squash so it will stand without tipping. Only slice off a little bit – just enough so they don't rock around too much. Cut each acorn squash in half and remove the seeds. I like to use a sturdy spoon for this.
- Spray a 9×13 baking dish with oil spray or brush with oil. Place the acorn squash in the baking dish and brush or spray the acorn squash with more olive oil. Add salt and pepper. Bake for 40 minutes to an hour depending on the size of the squash. Take squash out of the oven when it is fork tender.
- Finely chop onion and celery. Drizzle olive oil in large fry pan on medium heat and saute until softened, about 3-5 minutes.
- While onion and celery are cooking, dice apple and sausage. Add these to pan and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes until softened. Add more oil if needed. Add ½-1 tablespoon of butter (optional) and toss.
- Stir in bread crumbs and sage.
- Add cheese and stir until it begins to melt. Taste the stuffing. Add salt and pepper if needed. Adjust other ingredients to your preference. Take off the heat and let it rest until the squash is ready.
- Once squash is cooked, scoop stuffing into the squash. It takes anywhere from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of stuffing per squash. Fill them up, using all the stuffing. You might need to pack it down a bit to get it all in.
- Place stuffed squash back in the oven and bake for another 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and top with cheese and another drizzle of olive oil.