How to: Bake an Acorn Squash (and what to do with it!) [NaBloPoMo Day 11]

Acorn squash stuffed with cous cous, garbanzos, raisins, orange zest, thyme and chives.

Now that it's Fall, one of the dishes I love cooking is baked acorn squash. Unlike summer squash, winter squashes aren't as waterlogged and gushy so they stand up to baking and still retain their sturdiness. Once they are baked anything goes.  You can:

• put a pat of butter in each, warm in the oven until melted, then serve.
• drizzle with honey or maple syrup, butter, and a grating of fresh nutmeg.
• sprinkle with gorgonzola, pancetta, and chopped fresh sage and bake until pancetta is crispy.
• slice and serve over a bed of spinach tossed with dried cranberries, walnuts, crumbled chevre, and warm vinaigrette.
• sprinkle with curry powder and drizzle with butter, bake 10 minutes, then serve.
• top with chopped chipotle chile en adobo and minced onion, bake 10 minutes, then serve.
• top with garlic and grated parmesan or pecorino romano cheese
• top with carmelized onions, thyme and prosciutto strips, bake until prosciutto is crisp.
• stuff with any grain (cous cous, quinoa, wild rice etc.) or a combination of cooked ground lamb and cooked rice, bake, serve.

I love it because it's so versatile and when stuffed, as I did it last night, it makes for a pretty and satisfying vegetarian main course.

BAKED ACORN SQUASH (a tutorial)

First, cut the squash in half (I used two to serve four people):

Scrape out all the seeds and fibrous material:

Salt it:

Pepper it:

Then place them in a baking pan cut side down and add enough water so that it rises about 1/2 inch up the side of the squash:

Place in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Then remove from oven. They will be 80% cooked at this point. Don't they look lovely?

Flip them over and then enhance them using any of the methods I mention above, or if you just want to eat them plain continue cooking for another 10 minutes. Stuffed squash will need 10-20 more depending on what it's filled with. (The couscous took about 20 minutes.) Add a little water to the pan when continuing cooking the squash so it doesn't stick.

And there you have it!  These also might be a nice addition to your Thanksgiving table...hint hint!

Comments

[porter]

Yummy. I love squash but I never stuff it, my first instinct is to stuff peppers or eggplant.

[Sara]

yum!! we'll be doing a sausage stuffed acorn squash this week, so i'll let you know how it goes...

[Kathy S.]

What a timely post for me. We had acorn squash stuffed with wild rice pilaf last night. But the couscous/garbanzos/raisin stuffing sounds great and I will be trying that the next time.
Thanks for all your wonderful cooking posts.
P.S. Made your carbonara recipe a couple of weeks ago and it was a huge hit!

[erin]

I love baked acorn squash. I like the way you offered a bunch of different ways to cook / eat it. I always leave the seeds and fibrous material in (and minus the water) because I heard it keeps them moist. I also like to stuff some fresh rosemary in with the seeds. I will try it stuffed with couscous. We usually have ours with butter and nutmeg. Cheers!

[Sofía]

This is the first time I've encountered a squash recipe and actually thought it looked good! :)

[caitlin]

Ohhh, love these ideas. I have had an acorn squash on my counter for a week now -- just waiting for inspiration. This is perfect!

[taste memory girl]

omgosh ~ love how u cook! can i call in for take out??!! ;-) YUM