This sausage and mushroom stuffed squash is the perfect fall comfort food. Easy to make, gluten free, and ready in just under an hour.
I have to confess. There was a time when I didn’t like squash. I don’t know what was wrong with me. When done properly, squash is delicious! Soft, a bit sweet, and it can be cooked in so many ways.
This sausage and mushroom stuffed squash is one of my favourite ways to enjoy acorn squash. The lightly sweet acorn squash goes perfectly with the spicy sausage. The mushrooms and apple add a nice balance of flavours and then the whole thing is topped of with some salty parmesan cheese. Sounds good, right?
The secret to making this dish is in roasting the squash before stuffing it. This helps ensure the squash is cooked through without over cooking the filling and it added additional flavour to the squash.
While the squash is in the oven you can make the filling, then you stuff it, and toss it back in the oven to finish cooking. It sounds labour intensive, but the whole meal can actually be on the table in about an hour.
This makes a great meal on its own, or you can serve it with a salad if you like. It also makes great leftovers for lunch the next day.
The entire thing is edible, including the skin, but if you don’t want to eat the skin don’t worry, the flesh scoops out really easily.
HOW TO MAKE SAUSAGE & MUSHROOM STUFFED SQUASH
The first thing you need to do when making this dish is roast the squash.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, then cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Brush the inside of each squash with olive oil and then place face down on a parchment lined baking sheet.
You will want to cut a small piece of skin off the back of the squash (see the photo). This will help make sure your squash sits flat when you flip it over instead of rolling all over your oven and spilling that delicious stuffing.
The squash takes 25-30 minutes to roast, depending on the size. You will know when they are ready when the flesh gives a little when given a gentle squeeze.
While the squash is roasting you can make your filling.
Brown the sausage, then remove and set aside. Add the mushrooms, onion, apple and spices to the pan and cook until soft.
Once the vegetables have softened, add the sausage back to the pan.
Next add the chicken stock and cook until the liquid is reduced by about half.
When the squash is roasted to the point that it has slight give when squeezed, remove it from the oven. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
Flip the squash over and fill each half with the sausage filling. Don’t be afraid to pile it up.
Sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top and then toss the tray back in the oven for about 20 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
Serve and enjoy!
THINGS TO KNOW & HELPFUL HINTS
- The Italian sausage in this recipe gives it great flavour, but if you don’t like sausage, or want to save some calories, ground turkey is a good substitute.
- To keep this dairy free, simply eliminate the parmesan cheese, you may want to add a bit of extra salt to the filling.
- If you want more vegetables, go ahead and add them. Bell peppers and spinach make great additions.
- If you don’t have parmesan cheese on hand, any cheese will do; asiago, Romano, and even Swiss will go well with this dish.
OTHER RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE
Creamy mushroom and bacon gnocchi
One skillet chicken pot pie
Tomato basil skillet tortellini
Sausage and Mushroom Stuffed Squash
Ingredients
- 3 Medium Acorn squash
- 2 Tbsp Olive oil
- 1 Pound Ground Italian sausage mild or spicy
- 1 Cup Diced onion
- 2 Cloves Garlic minced
- 2 Cups Diced mushrooms
- 1 Cup Diced apple 1 medium apple
- 1 tsp Dried thyme
- 1 Cup Chicken broth
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 Cup Shredded parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Slice squash in half and scoop out seeds. Slice a small sliver off the outside rind so the squash will sit flat when flipped over.
- Brush the flesh side of each half of the squash with olive oil and place flesh side down on a baking sheet.
- Place in the oven to bake about 25 minutes or until squash gives a bit when gently squeezed.
- While squash is roasting, heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the sausage, cook until no longer pink. Remove the sausage and set aside.Add the onion, mushrooms, apple, garlic and thyme to the pan and cook until vegetables are soft. Return the sausage to the pan and add the chicken broth. Cook until the broth is reduced by about half. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Remove the squash from the oven and flip over. Reduce oven temp to 350 degrees.
- Scoop filling into each squash half then sprinkle with parmesan cheese. It's ok to really pile the filling up.
- Return to the oven and bake about 20 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly
I cannot wait to try this!