Acorn Squash...It's What's for Dinner

Pseudo-artsy mozzarella cheese shot, anyone?

Man!  I'm just an empty tank writing-wise these days.  It's a pervasive I've got nothing to say malaise lately.  I guess it doesn't help that we haven't had any notable outings over the last few weekends.  And I think we kind of slowed down a little after our Italian escapades and month 'o travel in July.

Plus, it's been rainy for the last few weekends, so we haven't really been hitting the trails or getting out as much.  Perhaps a glimpse into the looming and inevitable winter hibernation?

How about this love?

So I settled on sharing a recipe we made this week, which we've made a few times before and is seriously delicious.  It's acorn squash stuffed with zucchini, apples & spicy sausage.  I got the recipe from a website called eatmoredrinkmore.com, but when I searched their archive I couldn't find it, so I'll just list it at the end of my post if anyone's interested in giving it a shot.

First of all, the stuffing is all kinds of harvesty goodness.  You basically dice up the apples, zucchini, onions and sausage & saute it all together before stuffing it into the halved acorn squash.  With mozzarella layered through the stuffing. Of course.

It's a pretty easy prep. - After cutting the squash in half and scooping out all the seeds, just flip them upside down and bake them in a pan with a little bit of water in the bottom.

It's a good idea to slice a little off the bottom of each squash half so they sit flat on your plate when you're ready to serve it.  I also recommend grating the mozzarella cheese yourself.  It tastes much fresher & better than the bagged pre-shredded kind.  (That goes for any dish that calls for shredded cheese in my book. Especially Parmigiano-Reggiano.)

The hubby thinks the recipe could be even better if we roast the squash instead of doing the steam method the recipe calls for.  It's funny, I'm more of a stick to the recipe kind of gal, and he's always going free-style with ingredients and methods. - Usually improving upon whatever the recipe called for to begin with.

But the funny part is he can never remember what he changes or which ingredients he tweaked while in the midst of free-styling - and doesn't write anything down - so he's rarely able to re-create a meal exactly the same way.  Kind of a bummer, especially when whatever he does turns out delicious!  I know, it's a rough problem to have.

This is kind of sad, but we've regressed back to eating dinner sitting on the floor in the living room in front of the coffee table.  We sort of drifted away from eating at the kitchen table, which not coincidentally isn't within view of the TV.  What can I say?  We like to watch the idiot box while we eat.  Family dinner plus Seinfeld repeats, usually.  And we always have a Pugbull peering over our shoulders at whatever our meal is each night...hoping for a nibble of whatever we've got going on!  Which he never gets, of course.  But he's always hopeful.

Cheety is so not a fan of the camera.  Whenever I take it out, he looks away or gives me the look you see here.
The "This again? Fiiiiiiiine" attitude. Unless I'm bribing him with treats, of course. Then he's Mr. Dog Model.

If anyone wants to try this one, the recipe is below.  It's a super easy, tasty fall dish.  Here's my glamor shot of our acorn squash stuffed with zucchini, apples, and sausage before I dug in.  Hope you like it if you decide to give it a go.  And I won't judge you if you eat it in front of the TV. 

Ta-ta for now.

Acorn Squash Stuffed with Sausage, Zucchini & Apples
From Eatmoredrinkmore.com 
Ingredients:
1 acorn squash cut in half with seeds removed
1 medium apple, diced (Honey Crisp work really well)
1/2 a zucchini, diced
1/2 a small onion, diced
2 spicy sausage links with the casings removed
1/4 cup mozzarella, shredded
kosher salt, to taste
Instructions:
Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Place squash halves cut side down on a baking sheet with approximately 1 inch of water on the sheet.  Bake for about 30 minutes. While the squash is cooking, saute the onion, apples, zucchini, and sausage in a skillet.  Remove squash and flip over.  The flesh should be tender.  Stuff each half with the sausage mixture, layering with the mozzarella cheese.  Return squash to the oven and bake for another 25 minutes.  Serve immediately.