Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash

I am sooo loving this break!! Right now I am on a vacation from my vacation, but given the circumstances that surrounded my vacation, I feel it is completely necessary. Yesterday I slept in (well, for me 10AM is sleeping in) and then had a wonderfully lazy day of going to the mall and catching a movie (Benjamin Button...highly recommended). Then, I headed home to cook some grub. I have been wanting to make this for weeks ever since I saw it on Erica's blog, and now I finally had the time. Unfortunately for me, the farmers market was missing some vendors including the people where I normally buy squash. I sucked it up and got a squash at the grocery store because I really wanted to make this recipe. It was so easy and so good!! I went with some spicy chicken sausage that I purchased and froze a while ago from the farmers market. I meant to add a bottled pasta sauce, but I could not for the life of me get the jar open so I added a few slow roasted tomatoes and some of the wine I was drinking (What? I'm on vacation!). I also added some garlic and onions instead of frozen vegetables which I am not the hugest fan of. It takes a bit of time with the cooking of the squash, but this can be a really easy weeknight meal if you have the time. It's also light enough to make you not feel guilty during the holiday season.


Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash
(Adapted from Itzy's Kitchen)

1 medium acorn squash
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 links spicy chicken sausage, casings removed and crumbled
5 or 6 slow roasted tomatoes
1 or 2 tablespoons red wine
Shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place the squash, cut side up in an 8x8 baking dish. Add about a 1/2 inch of water to the dish, cover with foil and bake the squash for 40-50 minutes until the squash is fork tender, but not mushy.

While the squash is cooking, saute the onions and garlic in a large pan with some olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add the sausage and cook through. Add the tomatoes, and a few splashes of wine, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan.

Remove the squash from the oven. Drain the water. Turn the oven up to 400 degrees. Fill each squash half with the sausage mixture. Top each half with mozzarella and bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden.