Real Food, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, IBD-AID (Phase III: omit leeks for Phase II), Paleo, AIP, Whole30
I hope you’ll consider your personal likes and dislikes as you think about this recipe for Stuffed Acorn Squash. This recipe can be easily adapted for any number of tastes and/or diets. (As written, it is AIP, SCD, and Whole30 compliant.) Essentially, you create a hash that you will stuff into the pre-baked acorn squash, and then bake it all again.
I’ve tried this Stuffed Acorn Squash a few different ways. For my family, the key yummy ingredients seem to be ground beef, apples, bacon, and onions. Even when I change the other ingredients, those remain the same.
A note about seasoning: In this recipe, I use only salt to bring out the natural flavor of each ingredient. I don’t believe you need any additional seasoning.
I hope you enjoy this meal as much as we do. It’s perfect for a blustery fall evening. This is also a great meal to make for a dinner party as everything can be done ahead of time, cleaned up, and baked once the company arrives.
(Full disclosure: this meal can be a bit labor intensive with all the chopping and pre-cooking, but this effort will feed my family of three for four meals. Worth it, I think.)
Stuffed Acorn Squash
Notes
If you want more greens in this meal, you can add chopped spinach or kale to the hash. I’ve done that before and we enjoyed it that way as well.
Ingredients
- 3 acorn squash
- 1/2 pkg. bacon
- 1 leek
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 zucchini
- 3 small apples
- 1 red onion
- 1 pound ground beef or sausage
- 8 oz. crimini mushrooms
- handful chopped parsley
- celtic sea salt
Instructions
- For the squash: Heat the oven to 400. Cut the tops off the acorn squash. Slice each squash in half and deseed. To make stuffing easier later on, I also slice a thin piece off the outside of each half so that they will lay flat on the pan when the hole is facing up. It’s easier to stuff them when they aren’t rolling around and wobbling. Drizzle a little olive oil into each hole, spread it around, and place all six halves face down on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 25 min. (continuing on with the hash), then take them out. Flip each half face up so that it’s ready for stuffing.
- Prep: Slice the white part of the leek into thin circles, and cut each circle in half. Rinse in a colander. Crush and finely chop the garlic. Wash, then slice the zucchini into thin circles, and cut each circle into quarters. Wash, then peel the apples and slice into small pieces, discarding the core. Chop the red onion. Chop the mushrooms and rinse in a colander. Finely chop the parsley. (You’re ready to start cooking!)
- For the stuffing: Chop the bacon into small pieces and cook in a large pan. Once crispy, remove from pan.
- For the stuffing: In the bacon grease, on medium heat, add the leek and garlic. Cook for a minute or until they smell fragrant. Add the zucchini and apple. Salt a bit. Cook until nearly soft. (You don’t want to overcook as these will cook more in the oven.) Once done, remove from the pan.
- For the stuffing: In the same pan, add the ground beef and chopped red onions. Salt liberally. Cook until nearly brown. Add the chopped mushrooms. (It’s important to add the mushrooms to the meat rather than to the apple mixture as they will turn the apple mixture brown when cooking.) Once the mushrooms have wilted some and the meat is brown, remove most of the grease from the pan. Add the leek/garlic/zucchini/apple mixture back into the pan. Add half the bacon. Add the parsley. Mix.
- Stuff and Bake: Stuff each squash, packing the stuffing in with a fork. I pack it in and heap the top into a small mound. Use the remaining bacon to top each squash. (I always have leftover stuffing. I place that in a pan and bake it along with the squash. It can be eaten with a salad or other veggie to make a meal.)
- Place the pan with the stuffed squash and the pan with the additional stuffing into the oven for 20 minutes. Remove and Enjoy!
Hash Before Baking
Hash After Baking
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