Stuffed Acorn Squash

This is a picture of our stuffed squash.

We ordered some food from a local restaurant supply company that has started delivering to consumers. First off, the quality of everything they delivered was much higher than any grocery store. Now we know where the good stuff goes.

They had some squash so we included acorn squash in our order and it was so good. We’ve baked them, grilled them, and stuffed them. This stuffing is probably my favorite.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 pound ground pork (or ground beef, chicken, turkey, sausage, meatless alt.-whatever you prefer)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/4 cup chopped onion
  • 1/4 cup chopped celery
  • 1/4 cup chopped carrot
  • 2-4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked rice
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano (or Italian seasoning if preferred)
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Cut 1-inch off the top of each acorn squash and scoop out the seeds. If necessary in order for the squash to sit upright, cut off a small portion of the bottom. Rub the melted butter in the cavity of each squash and sprinkle the inside with kosher salt and ground pepper. Set squash on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Set aside.
  3. In a large saute pan over medium heat, brown the ground pork until no longer pink. Remove the meat from the pan, add the olive oil and saute the onion, celery, carrot and garlic until they begin to soften, approximately 7 to 10 minute. Deglaze the pan with the white wine.
  4. Return the pork to the pan along with the cooked rice, oregano, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper, to taste. Stirring constantly, heat mixture thoroughly, approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, cool for 20 mins and then mix in the beat egg well.
  5. Divide the mixture evenly among the squash, top each squash with its lid and bake for 1 hour or until the squash is tender.
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Smoked Acorn Squash

Fall is one of my favorite seasons for food. After months of eating fresh tomatoes, light chicken breasts and other summer foods, I am ready for hearty, savory fall foods! We recently purchased some acorn and butternut squash at Trader Joe’s. They have great squash and I love trying new recipes. Now that we have a smoker, we’re giving it a try in our smoker.

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 2 large acorn squashes, halved and seeded
  • 1/4 cup of olive oil
  • 1/4 cup of butter
  • 1/4 cup of brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon of nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon of chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions

Cut the butternut squashes in half and then clean out the insides of all the seeds. Cover the cut pieces in the olive oil and then cover the cut area with foil. Make sure that you cut holes in the foil to allow the steam out and the smoke to get in. Place the squashes in the smoker with the cut side down and smoke for and cook at 225 degrees F for 1.5 to 2 hours, until tender.

Acorn squash in the smoker

Acorn squash in the smoker

In the picture above, there are two squash halves on the top row and a parted out chicken on the lower row. Instructions for smoking the chicken will be in another post.

While the squash is cooking, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, chili powder and cayenne pepper and mix it with the melted butter. Once the squash has cooled, pour a spoonful of the butter mixture onto each of the squash halves.

We have found that serving a full half of the squash is a pretty big serving. If you have other sides, you could serve each plate with 1/4 of squash.

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