Stuffed Acorn Squash (Sausage, Apple, Pecans, Cranberries)
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
I absolutely all the Fall flavors and anything that resembles Thanksgiving, so this is one of our favorite meals when squash is in season. This dish checks all the boxes: savory, sweet, nourishing & filling. Each stuffed squash is a full balanced meal. You can serve on its own or add a small green salad (kale or arugula would be a nice pairing). This is actually a fairly simple recipe and comes together quickly. Your kitchen will smell like Thanksgiving! I hope you enjoy. Please leave a comment below with any feedback!
Ingredients
3 acorn squash
1 pound bulk chicken or pork sausage (NOT pre- cooked sausage. I usually buy the chicken sausage from the Whole Foods butcher and remove it from the casing). If you want to make this recipe vegan, you could sub vegan sausage or tofu.
2-3 large stalks celery, finely diced
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 apple, chopped, peel on (gala, pink lady, honey crisp or granny smith) there is a lot of sweetness in the dish so you can get away with a Granny Smith that is more tart or go with a sweeter apple.
1/2 cup dried cranberries (preferably no sugar added or sweetened with apple juice)
1/3 cup chopped pecans (buy roasted or slightly toast them before adding to mixture)
1 tsp dried rosemary (or 1 TBSP fresh)
1 tsp dried thyme (or 1 TBSP fresh)
1/2 tsp dried sage (or 1/2 TBSP fresh)
(If using fresh, you can typically find a “Poultry/Turkey” herb mix in the produce section)
olive oil or avocado oil (oil or spray)
salt & pepper
Method
Preheat oven to 425F. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet. *after pre-baking squash, you will use the broiler to cook the stuffed squash for a couple minutes.
Wash & cut acorn squash in half. Scoop out the seeds. You can eat the skin! Lightly spray or brush the flesh side of the squash with oil and add salt. Place flesh/seed side down on the parchment paper. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. You should be able to just pierce the skin with a fork. Once the squash is done, remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
While your squash is baking begin the stuffing.
In a small bowl, combine rosemary, thyme & sage. If using fresh herbs, finely mince.
In a large saucepan, over medium heat, lightly coat with oil or spray. Add the sausage (remove from casing if needed). Use your spoon to break up the sausage as it cooks. As the sausage is cooking, add half of the herb mixture. Sauté together until sausage is done.
Remove the sausage from saucepan and place in a large bowl to the side.
In the same saucepan, begin to sauté celery, onion & garlic. Add a touch more oil to pan if needed. As the mixture begins to soften, add the rest of the herbs. Sauté for a couple more minutes until ingredients are golden & tender.
Now add the apple to the onion mixture, cook together for a few minutes until the apple is tender.
Now add the cranberries, pecans and sausage to the saucepan. Mix together for a 1-2 minutes on low heat to combine all of the flavors. Taste the stuffing, add salt & pepper to taste. Remove the pan from the heat and put all the ingredients into the large bowl.
Flip the squash over (seed side up) and remove the parchment paper from your baking sheet (**it will set on fire in the broiler).
You will scoop out a little bit of squash from each half (about 2 spoonfuls from each) and add it to the sausage mixture. This will help the stuffing stay together and make a deeper bowl in the squash.
Stir squash and sausage mixture together. Now you’re ready to stuff the squash! Fill each squash with sausage mixture, I like to make them heaping on top.
If you like cheese, you could add it on top now and it will melt in the broiler.
Place the baking sheet in the broiler for 2-5 minutes until everything slightly browns on top. Watch closely so it doesn’t burn.
Remove from the broiler and serve.
While the squash is amazing when eaten immediately, the leftovers are just as good the next day!
Place any leftovers in a glass air tight container. Reheat in the microwave or oven to warm.
I hope you enjoy & please leave a comment below!