Hot Italian Sausage and Apple Stuffed Squash

Name: Hot Italian Sausage and Apple Stuffed Squash
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 3 acorn squash; 1 pound sausage meat ((your choice)); 19 ounces chickpeas ((1 can)); 3 cups apples ((peeled and diced)); 1/2 cup onion ((diced)); 1 cup carrots ((grated)); 2 tsp maple balsamic vinegar; salt & pepper ((to taste))

September 3, 2019 *Updated* September 3, 2019 / By: Gloria | Homemade & Yummy 157 Comments

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Don’t you just love when food is the serving vessel? Hot Italian Sausage and Apple Stuffed Squash is the perfect example of food served in food.

Sausage stuffed acorn squash is perfect for Thanksgiving. Great as a side dish or stand-alone low carb meal.

As you may have guessed, I am a fall food lover. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the warm summer weather and all the grilled foods. When it comes to cold weather, comfort food rocks. Stuffed squash is on the top of our list.

The weather is getting colder, in fact some areas of Canada have had snow. PLEASE by all means, if that happens to be you, keep it! For me, all I want to see are a few snowflakes on Christmas day, then back to spring temperatures. What a Canadian right? LOL I am a fair-weathered girl and proud of it!

Since I don’t want to move to a warmer climate, getting through the winter months with bowls of comfort food goodness makes things a whole lot easier. Soups, chilis, stews, anything served in a bowl works for me. Helps me warm my hands up. Hot mugs of tea, coffee, lattes and hot chocolate work too.

Apple season is DELICIOUS. We enjoy ALL the wonderful recipes, and especially the aromas they create while baking and cooking.

PUMPKIN SEASON is my favourite of ALL!! The weird thing is that my mom hardly ever cooked winter squash recipes. Yes, we had pumpkin pie, but honestly, that was about it. She really missed the mark on mashed squash, grilled squash, fried squash, or baked squash.

There are so many delicious and easy squash recipes. In fact, I have LOTS of my own.

Chorizo Chili with Roasted Tomatoes and Squash is a hearty and delicious meal perfect for comfort food season.

Puy Lentil Pasta Sauce is the perfect topping for spaghetti squash. A great alternative to pasta.

Easy Roasted Pumpkin Soup made in the blender. It tastes like you cooked it all day long.

Baked Pumpkin Spice Donuts the perfect fall donut. Baked donuts are THE BEST.

Pumpkin Latte because it is a MUST for fall (in fact I could drink this all year long).

PREPARING APPLE SAUSAGE STUFFED SQUASH

This stuffed squash recipe is easy to prepare. There are two parts, baking the squash and making the filling (or stuffing).

For this recipe, I used acorn squash. You can choose other varieties as well.

Cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds (you can save the seeds to roast later) and bake the squash in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Be sure to line your baking sheet with a *silicone mat or parchment paper for easier cleanup.

While the squash is baking, prepare the filling in a pan on the stovetop.

There a LOTS of different ways to stuff a squash. I wanted to keep with the fall flavours.

I used:

apples
chickpeas
hot Italian sausage (feel free to use ANY type of sausage you like)
onion
carrots
salt & pepper
*maple balsamic (a MUST for fall cooking)

Once the squash is baked, remove from oven and place on serving plates. Stuff the baked squash halves with the filling. ENJOY!

When it comes to fall and winter, there are endless recipes to incorporate the seasonal squash varieties. Hot Italian Sausage and Apple Stuffed Squash is simple to make, and the presentation is pretty cool too. You can feed a family of 6 with this budget-friendly recipe.

Dinner is served. Did I mention you can have this on the table in about 30-40 minutes? Yup, you can.

WINTER SQUASH VARIETIES

Did you know there are 11 varieties of winter squash? I will be on the lookout at the markets this fall to find ALL of them. How many of these have you tried?

Acorn Squash (like in this recipe). Small in size weighing between one and two pounds. It has an orange-yellow flesh and thick, dark green and orange skin. Mild sweet nutty flavour. Very versatile and can be cooked many ways

Banana Squash: Large, elongated squash, two to three feet in length. It can weigh up to 40 pounds. It has smooth orange, pink, or blue skin and brilliant orange flesh. Rich sweet and earthy. Perfect for roasting, soups and stews.

Buttercup Squash: Squat and round dark green rind that has green-gray lines with firm orange flesh. Sweet and creamy, great for baking, steaming and using in curries.

Butternut Squash: Pear-shaped squash has a smooth with a cream-colored exterior and bright orange flesh. The sweetest of all the winter squash. Great for just about everything.

Delicata Squash: Known as sweet potato squash, it is a small cylindrical squash with thin cream-colored skin and green stripes, and orange-yellow flesh. Similar to the taste of sweet potatoes. Makes a great stuffed squash.

Hubbard Squash: One of the largest varieties of winter squash with a hard, firm exterior that can range in color from deep green to gray or blue. Similar to the taste of pumpkin. Great for pumpkin pies.

Kabocha Squash: Squat and round, and similar to buttercup squash. Dull finish with dark green skin (sometimes has small lumps) and bright yellow-orange flesh. Sweet and nutty, and can be used from soups to pies.

Pumpkin: We all know this famous variety. No explanation needed.

Spaghetti Squash: Cylindrical shape with a firm exterior that ranges in color from pale cream to bright yellow. When cooked the flesh develops strands that resemble spaghetti. Chewy and very mild. Roasting is best.

Sweet Dumpling Squash: Small yellow squash, with bright orange to dark green markings. Sweet taste that is similar to corn. Great for stuffing and roasting.

Turban Squash: Large and decorative squash with an irregular turban shape. Dull-looking, bumpy exterior in colours from mottled green to orange and yellow. Mild and nutty. Mostly used as decoration (makes a great soup tureen), but can be used like other varieties.

This stuffed acorn squash recipe is holiday perfect too. What a delicious addition to your Thanksgiving table. Be sure to give it a try. Mix and match your fillings. Make it vegan if you like. Try it with butternut squash, or pepper squash. So many ways to enjoy this fun and tasty stuffed squash recipe.

Do you have a favourite squash recipe?

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