Thursday Recipe - Sage and Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash

Whoops. I can't read a calendar. Too much on my mind. Here's the recipe for this week:

Made as a casserole with sliced delicata squash -
Cook in a crockpot on low for 4-6 hours until tender.

I need to make this stuffing as just stuffing. It is so flavorful and tasty just by itself, but stuff it in the squash and it's beyond delicious. This makes a hearty winter supper or, if you can find some tiny squash, you could make it as a fancy dinner party offering.

For the record, this is a vegetable stuffing. It has no bread in it so if you're gluten-free, it should be fine for you. If you want a traditional stuffing, toss bread crumbs with the vegetables then add enough chicken or vegetable broth to moisten it. The vegetables have some liquid in them so don't add too much or you'll have soggy stuffing.

For the sage, I grow it in my yard as an ornamental plant. It has these really fun fuzzy gray thick leaves. And it smells really good. It also grows in places too dry for most other ground covers. If you don't have fresh sage and can't find it at the store, you can substitute 1 t. dried sage for 1 T. fresh sage.

Sage and Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash

1 large acorn squash (about 8 inches across) or 3 small ones (3-4 inches across)
2 T. pancake syrup
4 large or 6 small pre-cooked sausage patties, diced into 1/4 inch cubes
1 small potato, peeled and diced into 1/4 inch cubes
2 carrots, peeled and diced into 1/4 inch cubes
1 granny smith or other tart apple, cored and chopped into small bits
1/4 onion, chopped small
2 T. fresh sage, chopped small
1/4 c. chopped pecans (optional)
salt
pepper
fresh nutmeg

Arrange squash cut side up in a baking dish. Drizzle with syrup. Set aside.

Mix together sausage, potato, carrot, apple, onion, sage, and pecans. Stuff this mixture into the squash halves. You can mound it up but try to keep it all inside the squash. (If you don't have enough stuffing, you can chop up more potato or carrot to fill up the squash. I had way too much so I let it fill the pan between the squash halves but it ended up burning.)

Sprinkle salt and pepper over the stuffed squash. Keep it light. Sprinkle just a pinch or two of nutmeg over each squash half. Be very stingy with the nutmeg. A little goes a very long way.

Bake at 375° for 35-50 minutes, until the squash is tender and top of the stuffing is browned. Let stand for 10-15 minutes before serving.