We love Winter Squash, but we mostly stick with Spagetti and Butternut Squash. I ventured out a little and decided to use Acorn which I have only prepared a couple of times. I saw a stuffed Acorn squash recipe recently but I didn't take the time to see what they stuffed it with, I just thought the picture looked delicious. I choose to stuff it with lamb because I could season it with spices I thought would be complementary with the Acorn squash, it was!
Ingredients:
2 Acorn Squash
1 pound ground lamb
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp organic worchestershire sauce
1 tsp sea salt, plus a little.
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp nutmeg, plus a little.
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tsp chili pepper flakes
Cut squash in half from top to bottom, scoop out the seeds and season with a little sea salt and nutmeg.
Mix the lamb with the rest of the ingredients and stuff in the acorn halves.
Place in baking pan, I used aluminum foil to "cup" them so they would sit up straight.
Bake in a 375 degree F oven until the lamb registers 155 degrees F, approximately 1 hour.
These were delicious, but I revisited this recipe and made the following changes:
1. I roasted the halves cut side down for 40 minutes in 375 degree oven.
2. While the halves were roasting, I browned the onions in a little coconut oil, added the meat and seasonings plus 1 tsp of Garam Marsala and browned the meat throughly. Lastly, I turned the heat down to low and put a lid on the pan until the acorn squash was done.
3. Once the squash was cooked, carefully scoop out as much flesh as you can without destroying the shell (you will not remove all of the squash because the shell is very thin).
4. Mix the flesh with the meat mixture and refill the the shells.
5. Top with goat cheese and place in the oven on broil until the cheese is browned a little.
This tastes even better than the original and is a lot simpler.
