Sausage and Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash

Ingredients

• Squash

  Winter, acorn, raw

  1 squash (4 inch dia) or 431g

• Olive oil

  Salad or cooking

  3 tbsp or 41g

• Salt

  Table

  1 dash or 0.4g

• Pepper

  Spices, black

  1 dash or 0.1g

• Onions

  Raw

  ½ large or 75g

• Celery

  Raw

  1 stalks, large (11 inches long) or 64g

• Sausage

  Beef, pork, chicken, skinless, smoked

  16 oz or 454g

• Apples

  With skin

  1 large or 223g

• Brown rice

  Long-grain, raw

  1 cup or 185g

• Pumpkin pie spice

  Spices

  ½ tbsp or 3g

Directions

1. Prepare rice as per package directions; set aside.
2. Meanwhile, slice your acorn squash in half. Scoop out the center, removing the seeds. Pour about 2 tbsp of olive oil on a cookie sheet. Season your squash with salt and pepper and lay cut side down on the cookie sheet. Cook approximately 30 minutes, until the squash is tender and soft.
3. For the stuffing: Dice half of a large onion and 1 stalk of celery. Cook in a sauté pan until soft and translucent in 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. Remove from the pan to keep from burning. Add about 1 lb of ground sausage and brown.
4. Dice 1 large apple and add to the pan. Add the onion and celery back into the pan. Add the prepared rice to the mixture. Season with 1/2 tbsp of pumpkin spice and salt and pepper to taste.
5. After your squash is finished roasting, it is time to stuff it. Fill the centers with your stuffing mix. Place back into your oven and roast for an additional 10-15 minutes so that the flavors meld together. Enjoy!