Eat, Drink, and Go!

One of my favorite things about Fall is the harvest theme. It makes me think of the wine harvest season, the various squashes you see everywhere (learning every year that there are so many delicious ones out there!), and of course, the warm, comfort cooking. Probably my favorite squash to make is the acorn squash. I’m changing it up and leading off with the finished product pick! Ta-da!

And here’s how you can make this. I don’t usually make a side with the stuffed acorn squash because it’s very filling, but sometimes one craves garlic bread.  So I’ll include how I made that because it’s an easy cheat and a great repurposing of leftover hot dog buns (there are often superfluous buns)!  

First the squash…cut it in half and scoop out the seeds. I like to rinse them and roast them as if they were pumpkin seeds – yes, it totally works and they are very tasty! Drizzle the inside of the squash with olive oil, salt and pepper and then place the halves cut side down. 

Roast on 375 for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prep the stuffing. I like to use turkey sausage, but any ground meat will work fine. Be flexible – I’ve also used ground lamb, I think I wrote about that not long ago. It’ll be great as long as you like the ingredients!! Add chopped up kale and mix with the raw sausage. I lightly steamed the kale first so it’d be easier to mix. 

Stuff this mix back into the acorn squash halves, which will already be nice and roasty toasty! 

Then pop the stuffed squash back in the oven until the sausage is thoroughly cooked, so about another 15-20 min. You can’t overcook squash. Ok, well, you probably can if you totally forget about it, but the good thing about roasting squash and root veggies is that the more you roast them, the more their natural sugars carmelize and get so deliciously sweet!! Toss the seed with some seasonings – I used a truffle salt and allspice. Roast them for about 15 minutes until they are dry and crisp. 

And now for the repurpose part – the cheesy garlic bread made from leftover hot dog rolls!! My fam loves these!! The roll halves make the perfect garlic bread shape. Sprinkle with olive oil, garlic salt and pepper. 

I also added fresh herbs (basil and Rosemary) and then some Asiago cheese and a couple cut up cherry tomatoes. 

Toast up the garlic bread in the oven with the squash as it finishes up. Then everything is done together!  Time management in the kitchen definitely takes practice. This is an easy pairing because, as I mentioned above, it’s really hard to overcook squash. Once the stuffed squash was done, 

I drizzled some truffle balsamic glaze (can be found at Williams Somoma and Home Goods) on top and capriciously threw a bunch of the toasted acorn squash seeds on top. Wow!! This looked good. And tasted great!!!