Great winter recipe

Acorn or Pepper Squash

I just had to put up yet another Squash Recipe.  This one is an absolute winter heart and soul-warming winner, and was sent to me by my friend Trev.  For this one you must get ahold of some of Ira Stoll’s farmstyle or hot italian fresh sausage.  My favourite is his smoked garlic sausage, which is what I am actually going to use for this recipe.

Winter squash (acorn, kabocha, butternut) is baked, scooped out, and mixed with other ingredients, then stuffed back into the rind and baked. This dish has it all — veggies, meat, and a natural sweetness and creamy consistency without any added sugar.

INGREDIENTS:
3 acorn squash, halved and seeded
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 pound sweet Italian sausage 1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place squash halves cut side down in baking pans. Fill pans with about 1/2 inch water. Bake squash 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until tender.
3. While squash bakes, heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place onions and celery in the skillet, and cook until tender. Stir in the sausage and thyme. Cook and stir until evenly brown.
4. Remove squash from the oven, and carefully scrape the pulp from the rinds. Set rinds aside. Place the pulp in a bowl, and mash with a potato masher. Mix in the cooked sausage mixture, egg, bread crumbs, raisins, and pecans. Scoop into the reserved rinds. Set stuffed squash in the baking dishes.
5. Bake 25 minutes in the 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven, until heated through.