Stuffed Squash

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2004

Show: Good EatsEpisode: Stuff It

Rated: 4 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (48)

Cook Time:
1 hr 15 min
Level:
Easy
Yield:
4 servings

Times:

Prep: 25 min
Inactive Prep: --
Cook: 1 hr 15 min
Total:: 1 hr 40 min

Recipe Tools:

Select a Card Size

Add To My Recipe Box

Success

This recipe was added to your Folder_Name folder.

Do not show this message again

Add To My Recipe Box

Please sign in to add this recipe to your Recipe Box.

Ingredients

4 small acorn squash, 1 to 1 1/4 pounds each
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1/2 pound ground pork
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup white wine
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
1 (10-ounce) package frozen spinach, completely thawed, drained and chopped
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
Generous pinch kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut 1-inch off the top of each acorn squash and scoop out the seeds. If necessary in order for the squash to sit upright, cut off a small portion of the bottom. Put 1 of the 4 pieces of butter in the cavity of each squash. Set squash on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large saute pan over medium heat, brown the ground pork until no longer pink. Remove the meat from the pan, add the olive oil and saute the onion, celery, and carrot until they begin to soften, approximately 7 to 10 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the white wine.

Return the pork to the pan along with the cooked rice, spinach, pine nuts, oregano and salt and pepper, to taste. Stirring constantly, heat mixture thoroughly, approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Divide the mixture evenly among the squash, top each squash with its lid and bake for 1 hour or until the squash is tender. Serve immediately.

Next Recipe

More recipes? Try these recommendations:

Similar Recipe

Butternut Squash Risotto

Photo: Stuffed Squash

Similar Recipes

Recipes Like This

All About…

Comments & Reviews

recipe Stuffed Squash
DAWN Hoboken, NJ 01-25-2010
Flag

Winged it with what I had in the house and it was even easier - and delicious!!
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

Diced a medium onion and tossed in a pan with some olive oil. Browned, then added chooped garlic. Browned, then added pine... nuts to toast. Pulled from pan, then added 1 lb ground pork to brown. Meanwhile, chopped an acorn squash in half, scooped and seeded. Dabbed 1 T of butter between both halves, ground a salt ginder 4-5 times over each half, squeezed 1 t (approx) of fresh lemon juice over the top, and covered with chopped cilantro. Baked at 425 for 30 mins. Back on the stove, I tossed in about 1 c cooked rice I had in the fridge and warmed through. Pulled the squash and scooped the stuffing into both halves (nope, didn't deglaze), packing down as I went, and stopping when I had a heaping mound. Baked for another 15-20 minutes. until just crusty on top TASTY!!! The stuffing I made was enough to fill 4- 5 halves, depending on the size of the squash you have. This is definitely going into my repetoire. Read more
recipe Stuffed Squash
Judy Irvine, CA 01-18-2010
Flag

So good!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I had a couple of acorn squash picked up on sale so looked up recipes. I selected this one, and am so glad I did! I didn't... have spinach and didn't want to go to the store on a cold, rainy day -- a rarity in So Calif, so used leftover steamed brocolli, the leafy parts of celery and chopped bell peper. I also chopped up the acorn squash from the 1 inch cut out, plus the onion, carrot and toasted pine nuts. I had lean chicken Italian sausand and fully cooked frozen brown rice (Costco), This dish was excellent! I halved the recipe, but still had enough left over to cook along side in two remekins. I will definitely serve as a side to Turkey or Pork the next time we have guests - but will use the spinach next time as I'm sure that would be even better. I scarfed down one for a yummy lunch with a glass of chilled Sauvignon Blanc - delicious! Judy Alban, Irvine CA Read more
recipe Stuffed Squash
Claire Miami, FL 01-08-2010
Flag

So Yummy!!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

My family loved it and so did I! We will have this again and again.
recipe Stuffed Squash
Christopher Asbury, NJ 12-20-2009
Flag

Wow!!!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Just wow! Alton does it again. Great fall meal to serve @ a dinner party or for your family. Looks as great as it tastes.
recipe Stuffed Squash
Angela Madison Heights, MI 11-30-2009
Flag

So yummy & versitile!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Had to try this. First of all, the house smells absolutely wonderful when it's in the oven! I subbed several ingredients... just due to what I had on hand...for nuts I used sunflower seeds, for meat I used ground sirloin, for spices I used cinnamon and a bit of nutmeg and green pepper instead of carrot/celery. DELICIOUS and so easy. I want to try with walnuts, cranberries, apples and maple sausage next time. YUM!Read more
recipe Stuffed Squash
Pamela Atoka, OK 11-29-2009
Flag

Great Stuffed Acorn Squash
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

We had never had acorn squash, but saw this on one of Alton's "Good Eats" episodes. It looked and sounded too good not to... try. It turned out to be very easy to prepare, but alittle bland. I put in some Greek season and this was perfect. For some this would be perfect, but here in SE Oklahoma we are used to somewhat spicey food and the added spice was just the extra touch. I still give this a rating of 5 star and we found that we liked acorn squash. Great job, Alton. I will use this again.Read more