When you are gifted 5 lovely acorn squash, you wait till everyone is home for dinner, and make something fun with them. When it coincides with the first day of November, it's just that much better.
I knew I wanted to make a stuffed squash with sausage and apples, so I looked around on the internet, but didn't find anything that suited exactly what I had in mind. So, I chose the cooking method for the squash that seemed the most reasonable (read:quick!), and did my own thing.
Note, for my purposes, the stuffing worked perfectly for 5 acorn squash, so if you aren't cooking that many, you will have leftover stuffing (yay!)
I knew I wanted to make a stuffed squash with sausage and apples, so I looked around on the internet, but didn't find anything that suited exactly what I had in mind. So, I chose the cooking method for the squash that seemed the most reasonable (read:quick!), and did my own thing.
Note, for my purposes, the stuffing worked perfectly for 5 acorn squash, so if you aren't cooking that many, you will have leftover stuffing (yay!)
Ingredients
5 Acorn Squash, halved and seeded1 lb roll of Sausage (I used Aldi's)
Garam Masala Spice blend (I have a grinder bottle with black peppercorn, coriander, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, ginger, I think any combination of these would do nicely)
1/2 tsp Savory or Sage
Garam Masala Spice blend (I have a grinder bottle with black peppercorn, coriander, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, ginger, I think any combination of these would do nicely)
1/2 tsp Savory or Sage
2 Apples, cored and diced (1/4-1/2 inch? Not large chunks)
(2 TBS?) Honey
1/2-1 tsp Cinnamon
1 box Hawaiian Stuffing (Aldi~ or some other box of stuffing, but this is one of my favorites)
Butter
Black Pepper
Hard Cheese, Grated. I used Gouda, Parmesan or Asiago would also be good.
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F while preparing squash
2. Place squash halves cut side down on parchment paper on baking sheet (I had to use two sheets, because I couldn't quite fit 10 halves one one sheet) and bake for 40 minutes (Some larger squash may require 10-15 minutes longer)
3. Brown (and chunk up) sausage over medium heat. I also added the spices and savory or sage at this point. Because I ground directly onto the meat, I don't have an exact measurement, but I will guess about 1 tsp or so of Garam Masala Spice mix)
4. Remove cooked sausage to a medium sized bowl.
4. Remove cooked sausage to a medium sized bowl.
5. Melt 1 Tbs butter in same pan, add apples, drizzle with honey, sprinkle with cinnamon and saute' until soft.
6. Use slotted spoon to remove apples from pan (So any liquid remains for next step), and add to sausage
7. Add 1/2 the recommended amount of water for your box of stuffing to the pan, add the stuffing and mix till moistened (I didn't bring to a boil or add butter, just 1/2 of the water, and mix)
8. Add stuffing to the bowl of sausage and apples, and mix, tossing with a fork so that it doesn't compress.
9. Remove cooked squash from the oven, and flip over carefully (With spatula and fork to steady)
10. Add two or three thin slices of butter to the squash cavities, and pepper the whole thing (to taste)
8. Add stuffing to the bowl of sausage and apples, and mix, tossing with a fork so that it doesn't compress.
9. Remove cooked squash from the oven, and flip over carefully (With spatula and fork to steady)
10. Add two or three thin slices of butter to the squash cavities, and pepper the whole thing (to taste)
12. Grate the cheese over top and sprinkle with a smattering of pumpkin seeds, and return to the oven for another 20 minutes. You can choose to add the cheese 5 minutes before cooking time ends if you don't mind one more step. I was streamlining because I don't mind more "cooked" cheese. I would also consider grating the cheese over top right after removing from the oven~ that would work as well, I think.
13. Remove from oven, plate carefully (I tried tongs~ stick with the spatula and fork combo~ it works better, in my experience ;), and enjoy!
13. Remove from oven, plate carefully (I tried tongs~ stick with the spatula and fork combo~ it works better, in my experience ;), and enjoy!
Blessings~
