Acorn Squash with Cranberry Apple Stuffing

It's winter squash time! I caught a sweet sale last week and brought home a 16 pound assortment of butternut, acorn, and spaghetti squashes for $4. Expect plenty of squash recipes to come your way soon. Before I went shopping that night and came home with said squashes, I actually cooked up my first two acorn squashes of the year that I had previously purchased. I had never cooked with yellow or orange acorn squash, so when I saw them I picked up one of each. Verdict was that I liked the yellow one better, but it might have just been a superior squash having nothing to do with the outside color (feel free to insert squash color comments here).

So for my first acorn squashes of the year I decided to go simple and traditional. You can't get more traditional than brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter - then add in a couple more fall favorites: apples and cranberries. Yum!


Acorn Squash with Cranberry Apple Stuffing
(adapted from about.com)

Boiling water
2 acorn squash
2 large cooking apples, peeled, cored, chopped
1/4 cup dried cranberries
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons brown sugar

Heat oven to 375. In a large baking dish, pour in about 1/4-inch of boiling water. Cut squash in half lengthwise; with a spoon, remove all pulp and seeds. Place each half cut-side down in the baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes.

Combine remaining ingredients. Remove squash from the oven; turn halves over. Stuff the center or each squash half with the apple mixture. Return to the oven for 30 to 35 minutes longer, or until apples and squash are tender. Stir each center lightly before serving.

Serves 4.