Made this last night and it will become a winter staple in our household. SO GOOD. The recipe called for two acorn squash but I had one buttercup squash on hand so I used that instead. I think it'd work great with pumpkin or any larger squash.
There was lots of filling leftover after stuffing the squash. Just finished a delicious lunch of the sausage/quinoa filling that I scrambled with eggs, served in a corn tortilla.
Here's the original recipe. The recipe below is based on my modifications.
Ingredients
- 1 medium- to large- squash, halved and seeded (roast the seeds too, for sprinkling at the end)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground pork sausage (I used spicy italian)
- 1 onion, diced
- ½ cup celery, finely diced
- 4 smallish multi-colored and multi-spicy peppers (or whatever you have to taste), finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
- 2 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
- 1 apple, diced
- 2 cups cooked quinoa
- ⅓ cup parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper
- parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Roast squash on pan for 45 minutes, or until the squash is fork tender. After cooking, I scooped out some of the squash to make room for more of the filling.
- While the squash is cooking, heat a large sauté pan with olive oil. Add the sausage and brown. Add the onion, celery, peppers, garlic, red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the onion is tender and translucent.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the chopped thyme and rosemary. Stir in the quinoa and apples. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Scoop the mixture into the roasted acorn squash halves. Top with parmesan cheese and a drizzle of olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes. Serve topped with a garnish of chopped fresh parsley and the roasted seeds.
