I have a confession: I'm a total sucker for fall vegetables. Parsnips, turnips, beets, and squash. I love squash. So when I saw this beautiful little Swan White Acorn squash at the market, my culinary wheels started turning. Baked squash is great. I just had pureed squash for Thanksgiving. So what to do? I'm a big fan of stuffed bell peppers, so I thought, why not stuff the squash?
I completely and utterly made this dish up, so let me know if you have a variation. I'd love to try something new!
Recipe:
- 1 cup uncooked rice, made according to package directions (I used basmati)
- 1 lb. sweet Italian sausage (I used ground, not links)
- 1 med. yellow onion, large dice.
- 2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped (I used Braeburn...you'll want something a little tart)
- 3/4 dried cranberries
- 2 thick slices of cheese (I used fontina and asiago...personal preference dictates you use whatever you like!)
- 1 acorn or butternut squash, halved and buttered.
Make rice, set aside. Bake buttered squash at 400 degrees. While it's baking, cook sausage. Add onions, cook until crisp-tender. Add apples and cranberries. I seasoned this with a couple shakes of allspice, but you can use whatever you like. Cinnamon and nutmeg would be good, too. Cook until apples are softened, but still crisp in the center. Add rice, and reduce heat to just warm the whole mixture. Check squash for doneness (you want the squash almost completely cooked, but still firm). When the squash is ready, fill with rice and sausage mixture. Pack it in and mound it up, otherwise it's a whole lot of squash with a few bites of rice! Top with cheese and bake for about 15 minutes longer. You should end up with a lot more rice and sausage mixture, which was great on its own, too-just microwaved it the next day for lunch. It's probably even enough to stuff 2 squash (4 halves) if you're feeding more.
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