Baked Acorn Squash Filled with Italian Sausage and Rigatoni Pasta

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2000

Show: Emeril LiveEpisode: Cooking with Squash

Rated: 5 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (24)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(24)

Cook Time:
1 hr 50 min
Level:
--
Yield:
4 to 8 servings

Times:

Prep: 10 min
Inactive Prep: --
Cook: 1 hr 50 min
Total:: 2 hr 0 min

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Ingredients

4 medium acorn squash, halved and cleaned
Olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound Italian sausage, casing removed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup sliced red onion
4 cups basic tomato sauce, recipe follows
1/2 pound rigatoni pasta, cooked until tender, tossed in olive oil and cooled
1/2 pound mozzarella, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Season the squash with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet, flesh side up and add 1/2 cup water to the pan. Cover with alluminum foil and bake until tender, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

In a large saute pan, over medium heat, brown the sausage and onions, about 6 to 8 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, toss the sausage and onions with the tomato sauce, pasta, and cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well.

Spoon the pasta mixture into the cavity of each squash. Place the filled squashes on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake until the squash is heated through and the cheese melts, about 20 minutes.

Place the filled squash in the center of each plate. Garnish with parsley and serve.

TOMATO SAUCE:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
2 1/2 cups chopped, peeled tomatoes with juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup chicken stock
Black pepper
Pinch sugar

Heat oil in a large skillet and saute onions, garlic, salt, and white pepper 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and basil; cook, stirring, 3 minutes. Stir in stock and 18 turns black pepper; simmer 2 minutes. Season with sugar if acidic and cook 1 minute.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Baked Acorn Squash Filled with Italian Sausage and Rigatoni Pasta
Kristen Papillion, NE 10-28-2009
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Yummy & easier than you'd think!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I only made a 1/4 recipe using one acorn squash--this was more than enough for two adults. I also followed another review &... made extra filling and not only filled the well of the squash but cover the whole top. My squash took closer to two hours to get really soft. Highly recommend this recipe, even if you aren't a squash eater.Read more
recipe Baked Acorn Squash Filled with Italian Sausage and Rigatoni Pasta
Heidi Ferndale, MI 06-30-2009
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so so tasty.
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

i thought: pasta + squash = using up stuff i have around the house. omg, was this recipe good. i made it for my dad... (because my mom was out of town) and he even called me raving about it. delish! i just wish the squash was more flavorful last season, in general.Read more
recipe Baked Acorn Squash Filled with Italian Sausage and Rigatoni Pasta
Pam Edgewater, NJ 03-06-2009
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Serves 4-8!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Great dish, very tasty. Husband was skeptical at first but then loved it. A few suggestions: 1. I used penne, a small... pasta that fit into the squash better 2. Would use 1/4 tsp of white pepper, not a 1/2 - was too overwhelming 3. Used a 28 oz can of San Marzano tomatoes with the juice. If doing so, I would skip the chicken stock or use much less as it got too watery and had to cook it down for a while. 4. Size of the acorn squash: Mine held very little of the sauce probably because it was on the med to small side. If using that size (which seems appropriate for portioning) I would scoop out some of the squash flesh (to be eaten by itself - delish!) so that the cavity can contain more of the goodies. 5. Used fresh mozzarella which gave a nice clean, less heavier taste.Read more
recipe Baked Acorn Squash Filled with Italian Sausage and Rigatoni Pasta
null null, null 10-09-2008
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The best way to convert non-squash lovers...
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Delicious and easy -- best if you make your own sauce, but any quality jar sauce would cut prep time and still make this... great. A couple tips: substitue a mixture of shredded mozzarella and parmesan to cut the cheese load, stick it under the broiler for the last few minutes to get a nice brown top, and make sure you use lots of sauce so it will soak into the squash flesh. Also, like others, we preffered a smaller pasta like farfalle or penne. Read more
recipe Baked Acorn Squash Filled with Italian Sausage and Rigatoni Pasta
terrie holiday, FL 09-09-2008
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AWESOME
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

EMERIL ROCKS!! This was fantastic! Thank you!!
recipe Baked Acorn Squash Filled with Italian Sausage and Rigatoni Pasta
Anonymous 03-03-2008
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baked acorn squash
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

The pasta was good, but what I liked the most is what for an emeril recipe, it was pretty simple. My pasta was slightly acid... (I used store brought sauce) but the squash was sweet - it ended being a perfect balance for me.Read more