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Hot Italian Sausage and Apple Stuffed Squash

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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 and apple stuffed squash on a plate with a fork in it, ready to eat.

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.

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, stews, chilis, 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.

 PUMPKIN SEASON

Ok, some of you are probably thinking “enough with the pumpkin recipes already”. Is that you? Sorry, I had to get in at least one more before my mind switches to Christmas craziness and all the seasonal chaos.

Squash cut in half with the seeds and pulp being taken out.

Since I did not want all the little Halloween pumpkins to go to waste that my grandchildren had at their house, I decided to make good (and delicious) use of them. Pumpkin butter, pumpkin soup, and roasted pumpkin seeds took over my kitchen last Sunday.

Have you tried my Real Pumpkin Latte? Made with REAL pumpkin (not flavoured syrups), and hey, the money you save making this at home will buy a few extra Christmas presents. It is easier than you think, no fancy equipment necessary.

SQUASH IS SO VERSATILE

Do you know how many varieties of squash there are? From summer to fall, you can enjoy squash all year long. No wonder zoodles have become so popular. My Greek Zoodle Salad is a favourite here during grilling season. When squash is in season (especially during market time) feeding your family is VERY economical. 

Sausage and apple stuffing in a pan ready to stuff into the squash.

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

For this recipe I used hot Italian sausage, but you can use whatever you like. Chicken, turkey, mild, sweet, maple, let your tastebuds lead the way.

Pick your favourite variety of squash, I used acorn (also known as peppercorn). Cut it in half and scoop out the insides. Place the squash cut side down on a foil or parchment lined baking sheet, and roast for about 30 minutes.

Sausage and apple stuffed squash on a plate, with addition stuffing in the background.

While that is baking away, get out a frying pan. Cut up your sausage (I removed the casing), and cook. Drain the excess fat, and place the cooked meat in a bowl.

Now, since I wanted to turn this into a “full meal deal”, I cooked some onion, carrots, apples, and threw in a can of chickpeas too. For some extra seasonal yum, I added maple flavoured balsamic to the mix. The flavour profile is sweet with a bit if heat! YUM!

Once the squash is cooked, place it on a serving platter, season with salt and pepper (I love smoked sea salt), STUFF it with your wonderful mixture, and dig in. Dinner is served. Did I mention you can have this on the table in about 30-40 minutes? Yup you can.

Overhead shop of Hot Italian Sausage and Apple Stuffed Squash on a serving platter.

When it comes to food I always say: “Food doesn’t have to be complicated, BUT it does have to taste good”. This Hot Italian Sausage and Apple Stuffed Squash is EASY to make and DELICIOUS to eat. Experiment in the kitchen and create your own flavourful filling combination. ENJOY!!

Do you have a favourite squash recipe? Sure hope you are following me on social media. If not, please subscribe (look on the right near the top of the post).


Hot Italian Sausage and Apple Stuffed Squash long pin image.

Sausage and Apple Stuffed squash on a plate with a fork in it, ready to eat.

Hot Italian Sausage and Apple Stuffed Squash

Course: Casserole, Main Course, Main Dish
: Canadian
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 511 kcal
Author: Homemade & Yummy
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. Easy and delicious any night of the week.
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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)

Instructions

To Bake the Squash:

  1. Preheat oven to 400º F and line a baking sheet with parchment or foil.

  2. Cut squash in 1/2 lengthwise, and scoop out the insides.

  3. Place cut side down, and bake until done (approx. 30 minutes). Prepare filling while squash is baking.

To Make the Filling:

  1. Remove casing from sausage and cut into small pieces (you can even use a potato masher after you cut it up).

  2. Heat a non-stick frying pan to medium-high, add the meat and cook (for about 15 minutes). 

  3. While this is cooking, peel and dice the apple, dice the onion, grate the carrot and rinse and drain the chickpeas.

  4. Once the meat is cooked, remove the pan from the heat. Place the meat into a bowl (discarding the excess fat).

  5. Place the pan back on medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5-7 minutes.

  6. Add the meat and cook for 2 minutes.

  7. Add the apples and cook for 5 minutes.

  8. Add the carrots and chickpeas and cook for 2 minutes.

  9. Season with salt and pepper, and the maple balsamic. Mix well, remove from heat.

  10. Remove squash from oven. Place on individual serving plates and season with salt and pepper.

  11. Stuff each 1/2 with the sausage and apple mixture.

  12. ENJOY!!

Nutrition Facts
Hot Italian Sausage and Apple Stuffed Squash
Amount Per Serving
Calories 511 Calories from Fat 198
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 22g 34%
Saturated Fat 6g 30%
Cholesterol 54mg 18%
Sodium 509mg 21%
Potassium 1351mg 39%
Total Carbohydrates 59g 20%
Dietary Fiber 12g 48%
Sugars 12g
Protein 21g 42%
Vitamin A 89.4%
Vitamin C 37%
Calcium 13.6%
Iron 28.2%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Oh YUM- I love stuffed squash! I’ve still got a big pile of winter squash on my pantry, and I need to stuff some of them lol. (And we haven’t had snow yet here- I’m okay with that!)

    Reply

  4. I love sausage and apple in my squash… but Im especially loving your addition of the chickpeas in this… oh my goodness… now thats a great texture to add!

    Reply

  5. Ooooh I love the apple idea – we usually stuff our acorn squash with spicy Italian sausage and baked beans, but the apple is such a good fall flavor to pair with it.

    Reply

  6. Aren’t we lucky that we just bought several pounds of hot Italian sausage. By golly, that meat can flavor, can’t it. What a great way to serve the squash. I won’t make it for Thanksgiving — I think it should star during dinner. I will definitely make it soon!!

    Reply

  8. Forget soup in a breadbowl, I want a sausage stuffed acorn squash! what a great idea. Please, tell me that you are going to share the recipe for your pumpkin butter! I’ve never even heard of it, but if it’s anything like apple butter I know I’ll like it.

    Reply

  12. This sounds delicious – I love the combo of sausage and apple! Also, my goodness, would I have loved to be at your house when you were using up all of those pumpkins – everything sounds amazing, and I bet smelled like heaven!

    Reply

  26. Acorn squash is one of my favorites and I’m always looking for a different way to prepare it so my family does not get board of it. This recipe looks delicious and I love the addition of garbanzo beans.

    Reply

  29. Yum! Fall is one of my favorite seasons too. This looks so comforting with such wonderful flavors. I love your addition of maple balsamic vinegar. I had a bottle last year and definitely need to pick another one up.

    Reply

  34. Lovely recipe. I’m a snow lover, but we don’t get any here in the UK. I grew up in Montreal, so used to the snowy winters and miss them terribly. But either way, comforting stuffed squash is always welcome. Lovely recipe.

    Reply

  35. Gloria, this squash looks phenomenal! So delicious, healthy and yummy! And yes, food cooked inside other food always tastes better than two foods cooked separately!

    Reply

  37. This sounds absolutely delicious and I love that you used hot italian sausages in it. I really feel like the warm flavors of squash pair amazingly with spicy, rich sausages. My go-to squash recipe is a risotto with squash and sausage that is so yummy and comforting! But I definitely need to give this a try!

    Reply

  38. We have lots of acorn squash at the grocer this week and I made a few stuffed ones too. I love the flavors you have going in this recipe. I bet the Italian sausage dripping into the squash must taste delish.. Can’t wait to try this recipe.

    Reply

  42. I love seeing new recipes for ways to eat squash and especially acorn squash. The flavor combination sounds really delicious.

    Reply

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