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Sausage & Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash
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Sausage & Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash

Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: American
Keyword: acorn squash recipes, autumn menu plan, fall menu plan, gluten free dinner ideas, gluten free stuffed squash, healthy acorn squash recipes, healthy dinner ideas, healthy squash recipes, healthy stuffed squash recipes, sausage and apple recipes, savory apple recipes, squash recipes, stuffed squash recipes, thanksgiving recipes
Servings: 5
Author: Renee Kohley - Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

For the acorn squash:

  • 2 large or 3-4 small acorn squashes halved & seed scooped out
  • 2 tbsp softened butter or ghee
  • 1 ½ tsp sea salt
  • ¼ tsp black pepper

For the sausage & apple filling:

  • 2 tbsp butter ghee, or bacon drippings for cooking in
  • 1 large onion diced
  • ¼ - ½ head of cauliflower chopped small or “riced”
  • 1 large apple, any variety ½ inch cube (I don’t peel the apple but you can)
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp thyme
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic minced
  • 1 lb sausage of choice See below for sausage seasoning blend to make your own with ground beef, chicken, pork, or turkey!
  • 3 cups baby spinach finely chopped
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • Sea salt & pepper to taste

For the topping:

  • 1 cup bread crumbs of choice, blended up heels of bread, panko bread crumbs, or blended up nut of choice
  • ¾ cup shredded cheese of choice or about 3-4 tbsp nutritional yeast for dairy free cheesy taste
  • Pinches of sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. You’ll need a large, unlined sheet pan to roast the squashes.
  • Butter the flesh of the squash halves, and then sprinkle each half with sea salt and pepper. Place the squash halves flesh side down on the sheet pan and roast at 450 degrees for 30 minutes. This will caramelize the outside of the flesh, and steam the squash on the inside to get soft and cooked. While the squash is roasting, you can make the filling.
  • Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions with a pinch of sea salt and cook for a good 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are getting some caramel color.
  • Add the cauliflower and apple with a pinch of sea salt, and stir to combine. Cook this over medium high heat for another 7-10 minutes until the veggies and apples are soft and caramelizing.
  • Add the cinnamon, thyme, nutmeg, red pepper flakes, and garlic, and stir to combine. Cook on medium high for 1 minute until fragrant.
  • Add the sausage to the skillet to brown. Mix the sausage right into the caramelized veggies and apples for optimum flavor.
  • Once the sausage is cooked through and browned, stir in the spinach and vinegar. Cook this for about 1 minute until the spinach wilts into the filling.
  • Once the squash has roasted for 30 minutes. Turn the squashes over to flesh side up, and roast for another 10 minutes until the flesh is very soft.
  • When the squash is done roasting, fill each squash cavity with the sausage and apple filling.
  • To make the topping, pulse the topping ingredients a few times in a food processor or blender, and then sprinkle over the top of the stuffed squashes.
  • Place the stuffed squashes under the broiler in your oven for 2-4 minutes. Broiler intensities can vary from oven to oven, so start checking for doneness around the 2 minute mark. Look for a golden brown crust to the topping.
  • Scoop the stuffed squashes, digging down into the squash flesh so that each serving has squash. My 2 teenagers can eat an entire half of a squash with the filling, so a lot of times they just take a half squash right onto their plate!

Notes

  • I use my own sausage seasoning blend to season our grassfed ground beef from our cow when I make sausage. Ground chicken, pork, venison, or turkey works too. Or, you can use any store bought brand that you like - just watch the ingredients for hidden MSG, fillers, or unnecessary ingredients.
  • I keep a bag of blended up heels (ends) of our gluten free bread in the fridge to use for bread crumbs. When I don't have that around, the blended up nuts are delicious too.