Stuffed Acorn Squash

I’ll confess.  When I’m standing at the farmstand, looking at all the amazing winter squash available, the acorn squash is not one I usually reach for.   My preference, when it comes to winter squash, are the varieties that are really dense and thick with that squash/pumpkini flavor.  My ultimate favorite it buttercup, with butternut running a very close second.  Pie pumpkins and kabocha squash are also in the running, but I just usually find acorn squash to be watery and bland- though they do have their applications.

Well, the weekend before last, one of my favorite farms was advertising that you could fill a bushel box with your choice of winter squash for just $14.00.  That was too good to pass up, so I drove over and filled a box with delicious squash goodness.  But as I was packing the box with butternuts and buttercups, I saw these small acorn squash and I decided I just had to add a few of those as well for stuffing purposes.  I’d seen too many recipes as of late for stuffed acorn squash, so I added a handful of acorns as well that day.

Once Andy had seen this bushel box of squash later that day, he asked me why I didn’t get two boxes at that amazing price.  So, wouldn’t you know, the next day after church we swung by the stand again to fill a second box- this one I added a few more acorn squash too, as logistically they filled in the corners.  I wasn’t allowed to overfill the bushel box, but I was determined to maximize the space.

My first thought for stuffing acorn squash was that I wanted to try an idea that the kids might eat.  Abigail has come around to eating squash, Zander is still not a fan, but it’s always worth a shot.   This is a non-recipe method, because of course, you can use what you have on hand, versus exactly what I used to stuff these small squash.

The first step though, was to pre-bake the squash.  Had I stuffed them still hard and raw, the filling would be burnt like crazy by the time the squash was soft all the way through, so I wanted to bake the squash partway first.  I cut the squash in half, removed the seeds and membranes, and then rubbed coconut oil over the cut side of the squash.  Then I placed them cut side down into a pan and popped them into a 350ºF oven for about half an hour.

Next, I assembled a really simple filling.  I took three small golden delicious apples, peeled and cored them, and then diced them.   I added some golden raisins, almond slivers, and then a small scoop of brown sugar, followed by a dash of cinnamon and some salt.   I mixed this all together in a bowl and then filled the hollows of the squash with the filling.   The crowning touch was a pat of butter, and then they went back into the oven.  Another 30 minutes passed, and then we had some delicious stuffed squash.

Somehow I forgot to take a picture of the final baked product, but it’s not that different from the pre-baked one.  This was very delicious stuffed acorn squash.   Andy loved it, I loved it, and Abigail really enjoyed it too.  Zander told me that I should just make the filling part next time- I guess this didn’t win him over to the squash dark side yet.

Up next for the acorn squash I’m honing in on a good grain-based autumnal stuffing.   I have a few recipes that I’ve gathered so far, we’ll see what happens…