autumn stuffed acorn squash

Autumn Stuffed Acorn Squash Printer-Friendly Recipe

(coming)

My youngest daughter loves stuffed acorn squash. As it happens, Autumn is the best time of year to indulge in this winter delicacy. We have enjoyed this orange fruit stuffed and baked with apples, cinnamon and brown sugar. This is wonderful as a holiday side dish but for a weeknight meal I wanted to make it more substantial.

Our family went apple and pear picking in an organic orchard a few weeks ago, and we still had some D'Anjou pears left. I combined the flavors of our traditional acorn squash filling with orzo pasta, dried figs and fresh firm pears. 

I spiced the filling with nutmeg, cinnamon, sage and thyme. The filling is also sweetened with maple syrup which contrasts nicely with the acidic and earthy taste of the nuts and the squash itself.

This was an easy dish to prepare and it looked really pretty. It came together in less than 45 minutes, including baking time. What I really love about this dish, besides the self-contained edible vessel, is that at least one of my kids will eat a winter squash. Can't beat that!