get stuffed! (SQUASH!)

My new favourite meal is stuffed squash.

Sometime last year I had a hankering for stuffing.  I can't remember if I had come across a stuffed squash recipe first, or if I thought I was a genius, and then found out I wasn't the first.

J happens to think I make the best stuffing evar.  He's not a huge squash fan, but he raves about this!


Ingredients:

- 1 medium squash.  I used acorn, but delicata (aka sweet potato ) pepper or other squash with a good empty middle will work.  Even butternut would be fine, but you'd get a whole lot more squash.
- 2 raw sausages.  Any flavour you like.  When I make stuffing for a bird I like to use a milder flavour, but this time I used hot Italian.
- 1 apple or firm pear, cored and cubed (1 cm-ish)
- one small onion, or one leek, or a large shallot diced
- 1/4 cup pecan or walnut pieces.  Maybe even hazelnuts would work.
- 1 cup cooked rice OR 1 cup cubed bread
- stock or water if using bread and mix is dry

Method:

- Preheat oven to  350oF
- Cut squash in half
- Scoop out seeds, set aside if you want to keep them to grow or eat.
- Take casing off sausage and plop into mixing bowl
- Add in apple/pear, onion, nuts, rice/bread and smoosh with hands.
- If using bread and mixture is crumbly and not holding together add in some stock slowly until it forms a nice lump
- Divide stuffing into 2 lumps and stuff the squash. 
- Put squash in roasting pan (stuffing up), add an inch of water to bottom of tray, put lid on, or tin foil if the lid doesn't fit, or you don't have a 'proper' roasting pan.

I used purple rice!!

- Bake for um...I didn't check. (again).  Set your timer for a half hour.  Check the squash for doneness.  I found once the squash was cooked though, the sausage was also cooked.

We eat a half squash as a meal, but you could serve quarters or 8ths with other things too.

steamed up the camera!  YUM.