Winter squash (acorn, kabocha, butternut) is baked, scooped out, and mixed with other ingredients, then stuffed back into the rind and baked. This dish has it all -- veggies, meat, and a natural sweetness and creamy consistency without any added sugar. I use pork sausage but you can substitute something lower in fat.

Baked Stuffed Winter Squash

acorn squash, halved and seeded

olive oil

onion,

celery,

sweet Italian sausage

thyme

egg, beaten

bread crumbs

raisins

pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).


Place squash halves cut side down in baking pans. Fill pans with about 1/2 inch water. Bake squash 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until tender.


While squash bakes, heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place onions and celery in the skillet, and cook until tender. Stir in the sausage and thyme. Cook and stir until evenly brown.


Remove squash from the oven, and carefully scrape the pulp from the rinds. Set rinds aside. Place the pulp in a bowl, and mash with a potato masher. Mix in the cooked sausage mixture, egg, bread crumbs, raisins, and pecans. Scoop into the reserved rinds. Set stuffed squash in the baking dishes.


Bake 25 minutes in the 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven, until heated through.


This was a lot of work but worth it. I downsized the recipe for two squashes and used one orange acorn and one yellow acorn. I also used ground turkey instead of pork a mix of chopped turnip carrot and garlic instead of celery. I subbed a small amount of almonds for the pecans but the recipe would be fine without any nuts at all. I thought the raisins were important. I did not need to mash the squash - after I scooped it it blended in perfectly. I did add a dash of salt and pepper and used store-bought Italian breadcrumbs. I topped with cheese for the final bake. This recipe is very forgiving and you could really make lots of substitutions or additions depending on your tastes. My husband and I enjoyed it very much.

Great Recipe! I used 2 buttercup squash and next time I'll be cooking the squash in the microwave since the oven took way too long and I burned myself on the water. I also left out the thyme and instead used italian style bread crumbs and added some italian seasoning along with salt and pepper. I left out the raisins but felt the pecans really added some good flavor and crunch. I also increased the celery to 3 stalks to add some more veggies and crunch. Lastly I topped it with mozzarella cheese for the last 10 minutes of baking which was good but next time I'm going to try some shredded parmesan cheese. I also think adding a cup or two of cooked rice would taste good and will probably try that at some point as well.

A good recipe. I will make this 1x/year. My husband kept saying: "It's interesting" meaning he prefers the traditional baked squash.

My husband and I loved this recipe. The only change I made was that I used stove top stuffing instead of bread crumbs and mixed a half can of chicken broth in with the stuffing. Yummy.

Super easy and really good!! Looks impressive with little effort. I left out the raisins and it was still perfect! Will make again.

Great! I accidentally turned off the oven after the squash was cooked but the last twenty minutes was sped up in the microwave. I also made my own bread crumbs by putting scraps of bread in the saute pan with some butter and thyme. I will be making this again!

This was a delicious and easy meal! I didn't use the raisins or pecans because I didn't have any but it would have been good with them. I'll make this again.

This was awesome! I used less sausage no celery (didn't have any ) added chopped apples a sprinkling of crushed red pepper and grated a little parmesan on top for last 5 minutes of baking. I also used the microwave to precook the acorn squash. Gotta say the photo almost scared me away from this recipe!

Sooo tasty. Instead of Italian sausage I used Trader Joe's chicken sausage (garlic and asiago flavors) and it was wonderful. The pecans and raisins added a crunchiness and sweetness that totally made this dish unique.

I liked this recipe but only with my adjustments thus the 3 star rating. I did not put raisins and pecans in it. I think the pecans would be good but my family doesn't like raisins in savory foods. We used an heirloom squash called Uncle David's Dakota Dessert Squash. It was very good but because it was a little drier kind of squash we added some butter to it at the table. It seemed to absorb all of the moisture from the sausage and veggie mixture. With my adjustments I would give it a 4 star rating. Very good but not great.

baked stuffed winter squash

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hours, 5 minutes

Total: 1 hours, 20 minutes

Servings: 6

Author : AJNYC

Ingredients

Instructions

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