Stuffed Acorn Squash

Running has been going great.  We did a few miles after softball on Saturday and I was off work yesterday (thanks Columbus!) so I ran 5k after I got to sleep in for a bit.

Being fall and all, I got an acorn squash in our bi-weekly Suburban Organics shipment last week.  I never thought I'd cook with this, but now that I had it, I needed a recipe! 

I had looked over this recipe on my google reader a few weeks ago, but when I went back to search, it caught my attention.  Seemed pretty easy, and it could use up some (one) of my apples from apple picking!  Oh, plus it has kale hidden in there.  Bonus points!

Stuffed Acorn Squashes
Source: Cave Woman Cafe

2 acorn squash, cut in half and de-seeded
1 pound of ground sausage
1 tablespoon of coconut oil
1/2 onion chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 large apple, cubed
2-3 cups of fresh kale chopped
¼ cup of chopped pecans
2 eggs
2 tablespoons of milk or coconut milk
1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
shredded cheddar cheese to melt over top

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cut stems off squashes and a little off the bottom so they sit flat.  After halving, and scooping out the seeds, rub some coconut or EVOO on squash and bake cut side down in a baking pan for 20 to 30 minutes till a knife easily penetrates the skin.  (This will depend on the size of your squash--mine was good at 20 min)  Remove the pan and let the squash cool a little bit.  Flip them over so they're ready to be stuffed!  Set the oven temperature to 400 degrees.

While the acorns are cooking, heat up a skillet on medium high and brown the sausage, onion and garlic till the sausage is just done. Toss in the kale and apples and cook a few minutes till the kale wilts. Stir in the nuts and rosemary.

In a bowl, whip up the eggs and milk and stir into the sausage mixture. Stuff the squash with the sausage mix as full as you can get them. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.  In the last 2-3 minutes, add some cheese if you'd like.

Eat!
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This came out much better then I expected.  The acorn squash is kind of a mix between butternut and spaghetti squash.  Sweet like butternut, but texture is more a cross between that and spaghetti.  The sausage/apple/kale mixture is delicious.  Sean said this was something he would never have pictured himself eating and liking as a kid.  Look at me, broadening palates ;)

I got TONS of apples when we went apple picking last week, but they're almost all gone.  I might have an excuse to go back!  Here's my adorable niece I got to meet up with:

She kept taking a bite out of every apple she pulled off the trees!  too.damn.cute.