Stuffed Acorn Squash

I love to stuff my food.  I know that sounds weird, but stuffed dishes make an easy dinner when you're not quick sure what you're cooking.  You can stuff anything with anything.  Chicken and mozzarella fill up an eggplant; quinoa and herbs go into a tomato; peppers can be stuffed with ground beef and cheddar cheese; mushrooms get sausage and breadcrumbs.  But nothing says fall like stuffing an acorn squash with the savory ingredients we want as the temperature drops: mushrooms, greens, cranberries, pecans.  It might be vegetarian, but it's as hearty and satisfying as as bowl of chili.

 

Sometimes it can feel like you are being bombarded by an onslaught of autumn foods.  Everything is pumpkin this, apple that.  It's easy to overdose.  That's why it's important to look around the grocery store and notice the bounty of ingredients that are in season right now.  This meal is a good way to try them out.  Stuffed dishes are, by their very nature, flexible.  Did you get some walnuts in your CSA this week?  Use them in place of pecans.  Which greens looked good at the store?  Any will do.  Are the pomegranates just screaming at you from their display?  Their seeds would add a delicious sweet crunch to the dish.

I try to cook as seasonably as possible, and living in Northern California affords me that privilege.  But autumn is a season that exists just about anywhere, and given the shelf life of apples, winter squashes, Brussels sprouts, and onions, it's a season that can last many months.  But with a little creativity, we won't end up sick of pumpkin before the pies hit our Thanksgiving tables.

Stuffed acorn squash

Serves 2

1 acorn squash
2 t  maple syrup
1 T  butter
1 T olive oil
1/4 c pecans, chopped
1/2 onion, diced
8 oz mushrooms, roughly chopped
1/4 c dry white wine
1/4 c dried cranberries
 2 c spinach, chopped
4 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut squash in half from stem to bottom, and scoop out seeds and pulp with a spoon.  Pierce inside of each squash half a few times with a fork, and baste the insides with maple syrup.  Place squash cut-side-up in a baking dish.  Bake until soft, about an hour.

 Adjust oven to 375 degrees.  Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.  Toast chopped pecans in butter until fragrant, about 5 minutes.  Remove from pan and set aside.

Add olive oil to the skillet.  Add onion and cook until softened, about 10 minutes.  Add mushrooms and cook until browned, about 5 minutes.  Add white wine and continue cooking until reduced by half.  Add  dried cranberries and spinach, and cook just until spinach is wilted.  Season with salt to taste.  Remove from heat.

Fold in chopped pecans and half of the grated cheese.  Stuff each half of prepared squash with filling.  Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.  Place squash halves on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until squash is heated through.