My longtime friend and podcast co-host, Stef, is an amazing cook, and I can always count on her to keep me well-fed whenever we’re hanging out at her house and/or getting ready to record a new episode together in the studio. She, much like me, also really loves diving into seasonal recipes – and has been knocking it out of the park throughout this Fall with dinners and dishes she’s prepared for all of our Autumnal Adventures.
She was kind enough to share this stuffed-squash recipe she recently put together before her and I headed out for some spookiness at Old Sturbridge Village, and I really wanted to share it here as we kick off the month of November. This is definitely a contender for the best dish to bring to a Friendsgiving or Thanksgiving dinner!
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
2 SERVINGS:
- 2 whole acorn squash, cut in half
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb. loose sausage (Stef used hot Italian, but you can use any protein you like!)
- 1½ cups diced baby bella mushrooms
- 1 cup peeled and diced honeycrisp apples
- ½ cup chicken stock
- 2 teaspoons rosemary
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup shredded cheese (Stef used mozzarella, but you can use any kind you like!)
WHAT YOU’LL DO:
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Slice acorn squash in half, scoop out seeds, brush cut halves with oil and then season with salt and pepper.
3. Using casserole pan or a pan with high sides, pour 2 cups of water in it, then place squash in it with the cut side facing up. Cover with tinfoil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove tinfoil and bake for another 15 minutes.
4. While the squash is baking, chop the mushrooms, apples, and herbs. Heat a pan over medium heat and brown the sausage for 10 minutes until almost cooked through.
5. Add the chopped mushrooms, apples, chicken stock, and herbs to the pan with the cooked sausage. Sauté for an additional 5 minutes or until the apples and mushrooms are fragrant (approximately 5-10 minutes.)
6. Once the squash is cooked, remove from the oven and scoop out most of the flesh, leaving a little bit of filling within the acorn squash “shells.”
7. Add the squash filling to the sausage/mushroom/apple mixture in the pan and stir until completely mixed in.
8. Scoop the sausage/squash mixture back into the hollowed out squash and top with cheese.
9. Bake one more time at 450°F for 5-10 minutes or until cheese melts. Serve once removed from the oven and enjoy!
____________________
Thank you again so much to Stef for sending me the recipe so I can attempt these at home, and for doing such an amazing job with these when she prepared them! They were delicious, and the addition of the apple was an unexpected but pleasant surprise. It added a great tartness to what was otherwise a satisfying and savory dish!
I’m looking forward to sharing a few more recipes in the coming weeks as we get closer to the holidays!
xo
Coffee & Chiffon 