Savory Stuffed Acorn Squash
This ain’t no side dish hunny
Surprise your dinner party guests with this savory, seasonal main dish that serves up serious presentation points
Ingredients
Makes 4
2 acorn squash
1 lb sweet Italian sausage (ground or uncooked links are both fine)
1 shallot, chopped
1/2 cup (uncooked) farro
Huge bunch of torn or roughly chopped kale (I like tuscan aka dino kale, but any hardy kale works here)
1 cup chicken stock
10-15 sprigs of thyme, leaves stripped off of sprigs
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp crush red pepper (optional if you don’t like spice)
1/4 cup pistachios
Small goat cheese log, crumbled
Instructions
You can prepare this dish in the morning and start cooking one hour before dinner OR cook all parts ahead of time and assemble when you’re ready to eat. Go easy on yourself for a weeknight dinner!
Prepare the squash
With a big chefs knife, make a small slice into the side of your acorn squash. Carefully wield the squash up and bang it on the counter or cutting board. These things are tough, but you’ll be able to split it open with a few bangs, just be careful.
Scoop out the seeds and goo from the center to reveal a perfect little cup-sized pocket (these things are begging to be stuffed!) and rub the whole exposed part of the squash down with olive oil, then sprinkle generously with salt. Rinse and save the seeds to make baked spiced squash seeds.
Turn the squash open face-side down onto a foil lined baking sheet and bake at 350º for about 40-50 minutes, depending on their size. You’ll know they/re done when you take them out, turn one over, and can easily pierce through the flesh with a fork.
Prepare the stuffing
While they’re roasting, in a cold skillet, place your sausage (if you have links, squeeze the meat out of the links and discard the casings), chopped shallot, herbs, spices, and kale. Turn heat up to medium and let it go for a few minutes, stirring and breaking up the sausage into small bits. The fat from the sausage will coat everything, the shallots will break down, the kale will wilt beautifully, and the spices will fill the kitchen all at a perfect pace.
While that is working, bring your farro and stock up to a boil in a pot and cook to package instructions minus 2 minutes or so. For me this was 8 minutes. Then, transfer the contents of the pot into your skillet and stir all about. Continue to cook the full stuffing mixture just until the stock has all been absorbed and cooked off.
Assemble
Take your squash out of the oven and slice a small flat end into the outside of each so that you have a nice flat bottom. Scoop 1/4 of the mixture into each half and top with chopped pistachios.
