Stuffed Acorn Squash

A couple weeks ago, I picked up these adorable little acorn squash at the farmers' market.  I've been wanting to stuff them, but first I had nothing with which to stuff them, and then I had no one for which to stuff them.  Cue today, P is home from his business trip, and there's a chill in the air.  I am feeling like I really want to embrace the holidays, which are just creeping upon us.  So, yay, I decided to finally make my stuffed acorn squash.

Now, tell me how cute these things are!

I'm trying to do this thing where we only eat the food in the house, and not go grocery shopping unless we absolutely have to, so I opened the cabinets and refrigerator and pulled out this fantastic array of food:

Okay, it looks like tons of stuff, but really, it wasn't that bad.  For this meal, I used:
6 mini acorn squash
6 or 7 mushrooms
minced onion
1 heaping teaspoon of garlic
1 palm full of mixed nuts (mostly almonds and peanuts were left)
1 palm full of raisins
1/2 a red bell pepper
5 chicken sausages, casings removed
6 leaves of fresh sage
about 1/2 cup each of seasoned bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese
salt, pepper and olive oil

Step 1: Cut the "lid" off of the squash, scoop out the inside, spray with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  In order to get them to sit so pretty, cut a small part of the bottom off of the squash.  Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 45-50 minutes, until fork tender.

 So, this would have tasted so much better if I would have used butter instead, but I didn't have any.

Step 2: While the squash are roasting, prepare the stuffing:  In a saute pan, and just enough olive oil to lightly coat the bottom of your pan, and add the sausage, bell pepper, onion and mushroom until the sausage is no longer pink.

During this time, be sure to carefully guard your remaining ingredients, as thieves may be lurking, like this adorable one I found

Chop your nuts, raisins and sage and add to the pan with garlic.  Saute another minute or two, and then remove from heat.

I wish I would have had some spinach to add to the filling for an added veggie boost and some color.

Stir in the bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese, then spoon into your cooked squash.  About 3-5 heaping Tbsp of filling went into each acorn squash, dependent upon size.

Put the lids on the squash and return them to the oven for another 10 minutes to get everything at one temp and the cheese a little melty.

Step 3: Serve on an individual plate with the lid askew.

Okay, so P and I LOVED these.  Everyone was a fan of the stuffing, which, if I do say so myself, was fan-freakin-tastic! J ate all of hers with little to no complaint.  L and C though, they were a little more complicated.  L ate all the stuffing before any of the squash, so he was disappointed with the lack of flavor of the squash (here's where butter would have been a better option), and C followed his lead and didn't want to eat unless I fed her.

In the end, all 6 were fully consumed and I think I'll definitely try something like this again.  There was the sweet from the raisins, the crunch and nuttiness from the almonds/peanuts, the savory from the sausage, and the holiday feel from the sage.  Yum!