The great thing about this recipe is it is a lot like Dorie Greenspan’s “Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good“: eminently adaptable to your pantry and taste preferences. You have plenty of time to make the sausage and filling while the squash is roasting.
Sausage & Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash
Serves 4
Adapted from here and here
Ingredients
- 2 acorn squash, halved and seeded
Sausage - 1 pound ground pork
- 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon ground sage
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (omit or increase depending on your spice preference)
Filling - 1 small onion (or 1/2 large), chopped
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 1 small fennel bulb (or 1/2 large), chopped
- 2 apples, cored and chopped
- a few tablespoons almond meal and/or coconut flour
- 1 egg, beaten
- salt, pepper, and ground sage
1. Line a large pan with aluminum foil and bake squash, cut side down (and sprinkled with a little water), at 400 degrees F for 45 min to 1 hour, until it is tender but retains its shape.
2. Meanwhile, heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Fry pork for 1-2 minutes (until the pan has some grease) and then mix in the minced garlic, sage, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Continue cooking until sausage is browned. Drain pork as you remove it from the skillet, leaving the drippings in the pan. Place cooked pork in a large bowl.
3. Add onion, celery, and fennel; saute 6-8 minutes, or until onion begins to soften and become slightly clear. Stir in apple and saute 2 more minutes. Pour all contents in bowl with cooked pork.
4. Combine pork, vegetables, apples, and almond meal/coconut flour. Check for seasoning and add salt, pepper, or sage if necessary.
5. Stir in the egg to combine.
6. Turn roasted squash cut side up and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a touch of sage to taste. Fill with the stuffing – pat down and make a mound to get it in there! – and loosely cover with aluminum foile.
7. Return stuffed squash to oven to bake (at 400 degrees F) for ~20 minutes or until egg is set.