Stuffed Acorn Squash

I'm a firm believer that anyone who says they don't like vegetables hasn't had them cooked properly. It's not hard to cook vegetables correctly.  For example, I've found that just about everyone loves vegetables if you stuff them with sausage!

Today, I'm sharing one of my favorite fall vegetable dishes; stuffed acorn squash.

To make this recipe, you really only need two ingredients; acorn squash and sausage.  It's a lot better though, if you add a few other things. So, keeping with the way I cook, I'll supply a list of optional extra ingredients and if you make this recipe, just pick as many as you'd like or have on hand.

Let's start with the squash.  Now this is the hard part: cutting the squash in half.  Sorry, I don't have any nifty tricks for this but I will say, start with a sharp, sturdy knife.  I have found it easier if you don't try to cut the stem, just cut the rest of it and then use your hands to tear it open across the stem.

Use a spoon to clean out the seeds.  Here's another helpful hint, dig a little of the squash out so you have a nice deep hole for the stuffing (translation: more sausage!).

Cook the sausage and optional ingredients in a frying pan.

Once the sausage is cooked, spoon it into the waiting squash.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for at least an hour, probably more like an hour and 15 minutes.

With about 15 minutes left in the baking cycle, I add a little cheddar cheese to the top to keep the stuffing contained (and just like sausage, cheddar cheese makes everyone a vegetable lover!)

You will know when the squash is fully cooked when you can easily stick a fork in it.

I've found the easiest way to eat this is to put it in a bowl so the squash doesn't move around as I mix the squash and stuffing together. My son, however, likes to dump it all out and scrape the sides of the squash on to a plate--which then seems perfect for rolling in a tortilla!








Required ingredients:

• Acorn Squash
• Sausage.

Optional ingredients:

• onion
• garlic
• bell pepper
• celery
• carrot
• nuts (chopped walnuts, peanuts, almonds, whateva)
• apples
• hot peppers
• green chilies
• cheese
• chives
• whatever you want that goes good with sausage (oh yea, that would be EVERYTHING!).

Bake at 350 for 60-75 minutes. Enjoy.