I had big plans this weekend to make a bunch of new fall recipes for you guys. Then that sneaky fall bug crept up on me and left me out of commission for all of Sunday.
Even though I wasn’t feeling 100%, I still wanted to give the hubby a home cooked meal (he was stuck in church pretty much all day). So I tried to make a dish that required minimal effort from my sicky self but still looked like I put in a lot of effort. While this recipe looks like it takes a fair amount of cooking time, it requires very minimal active cooking time, which meant I spent the majority of the cooking time curled up on the couch with a blanky watching TV.
Stuffed Acorn Squash
Ingredients:
- 2 large acorn squash
- 2 fennel bulbs
- 1 cup bulgur
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups frozen corn
- 1 red pepper
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 3 tablespoons breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- Salt
- Pepper
- Nonstick cooking spray
Method:
Pre heat your oven to 350 degrees.
Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds.
Sprinkle salt and pepper on squash. Spray the cut side of squash with non stick spray.
Place squash with flesh down on cookie sheet or casserole dish. This is a trick I read somewhere for roasting squash. By placing the squash with the flesh directly on the pan you allow the juices to cook up into the squash.
Place cookie sheets into the oven to roast for 60 minutes.
About 30 minutes into the roasting time, you can start to work on the stuffing for the acorn squash.
Bring 2 cups of water to boil and add bulgar. Turn down to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Slice fennel into 1 inch strips. Saute fennel on medium-high heat for 15 minutes.
Dice up red pepper and add to fennel. Saute for another 10 minutes.
At this point, your acorn squash should be ready. Pull out of the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. Then scoop out the flesh of the acorn, leaving about ¼ inch of flesh left.
Add frozen corn, acorn squash flesh, bulgar, cinnamon, nutmeg, parsley, and oregano. Cook for 5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
Divide mixture evenly between the acorn squash flesh.
In a small bowl, mix breadcrumbs and nutritional yeast.
Spray the top of the acorn squash with nonstick spray and then sprinkle 1 tablespoon of breadcrumb/nutritional yeast mixture on top of acorn squash.
Return squash to oven to cook for another 20 minutes.
Remove acorn squash from oven and serve.
This was the perfect dish for a sick day because it filled our house with a wonderful, warm smell, creating the ideal atmosphere for a much needed nap.
It also fit in perfectly with the gloomy, cool weather we’ve been have, warming me up with home cooked goodness.
I’ll take a twice baked squash on a rainy fall day over pretty much any other fall dish.
What do you like to do with acorn squash?