Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Winter Squash A-Z: Sausage and Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash


What's not to love about fall?  I mean there are wonderful smells, changing leaves, pumpkins, cider... Quality time with family all without the pressure of what to buy your aunt Susie this year. There are sweaters and cool nights with bonfires.  There is great comfort food and I love ALL the festivities that come with fall holidays.  Of course there is the sound of dry leaves whisking along the ground and looking up to see orange and red trees against a blue sky.  For me fall has always been the best season and I could probably go on about all the wonderful things about fall.  But, this is about squash and as much as I LOVE fall foods I must admit that I am a bit of a novice when it comes to squash.  I don't remember eating a lot of it growing up, unless you count my grandma's pumpkin pie ;-)  So, this year I've decided to expand my horizons along with my cooking repertoire with this nutritious yet, delicious food.  Since I happened to begin this journey with acorn squash I figured why not go in alphabetical order.  




Now, I have never eaten acorn squash (to my best memory) though my mom insists that she did make it when we were growing up.  BUT, after tasting my first baked acorn squash this weekend I'm pretty sure I would remember that delectable experience.  Wow!  I'm definitely thinking this would be awesome baked on it's own like in the pioneer woman recipe I originally was planning to make which called just for butter, brown sugar and maple syrup...yum.




But, I had these squash which I bought more or less on a whim and was trying to figure out what I would serve with them.  I decided to make them for my mom who would be arriving from a long drive and after eating these we would be diving straight into a long day of painting.  So, I was hesitant to go vegetarian and wanted something that would really stick to our ribs.  As a result, I started searching for stuffed acorn squash not knowing what I would get when I saw something with SAUSAGE!  Ok, I love sausage....or maybe I just love sage because we really just eat turkey sausage but, I couldn't resist this recipe and all it's sausage, appley, sagey goodness.  Plus, I just love to try a recipe with 5 stars....it always seems to end well.  And end well it did!  I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this savory sweet dish and I loved that fact that it was so nutritious with no sacrifice on taste.  I made mine with turkey sausage which I'm thinking is just as yummy but the recipe does call for sausage.  But, don't take my word for it, please follow the link and try it for yourselves. Also, I would really love to hear if anybody has an awesome recipe for acorn squash...I am so hooked and can't wait to cook it again.

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