Fruit and Nut Stuffed Acorn Squash

Apples are sautéed in butter with cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. Then simply spoon the apple filling in the center of a brown sugar and butter roasted acorn squash... your dessert won't ever be the same.

Course Side Dishes

Cuisine American

Keyword acorn squash, apples, dried cranberries, honey, pistachios, walnuts

Prep Time 10

Additional Time 50

Total Time 1

Servings servings

Calories 419

Author Laurie McNamara

Ingredients

2 small acorn squash cut in half horizontally
6 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 small granny smith apple
1 small honeycrisp apple
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon allspice
2 pinch sea salt plus more to taste
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup chopped pistachios plus more for garnish
1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds
honey for serving

Instructions

For the squash:

Preheat your oven to 350°. In a large glass baking dish add 4 tablespoons of butter. To melt the butter, just pop into the oven while it preheats.
Slice 1/8 of an inch off the bottoms of each squash half so they will sit flat.
Once the butter is melted, sprinkle the brown sugar evenly on the bottom of the pan. Lay the squash face down (with the “bottom” facing up) so the exposed flesh touches the brown sugar butter mixture in the pan. Bake in your preheated oven for 40-50 minutes or until knife pierces easily.

For the stuffing:

Meanwhile, in a 10-inch skillet, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Once melted and hot, add in the diced apples. Sauté for 8-10 minutes until soft, but still firm and textured. Measure and add in the cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and a couple pinches of sea salt.
Remove stuffing mixture to a medium-sized bowl and add in the chopped walnuts, pistachios and cranberries. Measure and add in the vanilla extract and poppy seeds, toss together until well combined.

To serve:

Invert the baked squash onto a platter or individual plates. Spoon in some of the brown sugar and butter from the baking dish and drizzle it into the center and along the tops of the squash.
Fill the squash centers with the apple filling and top with more chopped pistachios and a drizzle of honey. Serve warm.

Notes

This recipe was developed for Simply Organic to feature their wonderful spices.

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