Acorn squash, roasted with onion salt and sage, and filled with a Italian turkey sausage stuffing. Spicy, sweet, savory, delicious. A great choice for a fall seasonal meal!
WW My Way Smart Points: 6 Green, 6 Blue, 5 Purple
WW Freestyle Smart Points: 6
Roasting The Squash
I took two acorn squash, and cut them in half. Well, my dad cut them in half. I'm a weakling and would get the knife stuck. After they were halved, I gave each piece a good spray down with non-stick cooking spray, and seasoned them with onion salt and sage.I then put them on a baking sheet and and threw them in the oven to roast for an hour.
Cooking Up The Stuffing
Now that the squash is roasting, I got out the onion, apple, and mushroom and diced them all up so they would be ready to go when it was time to cook them up. I did this right after I put the squash in, so I tossed the apple pieces in a tiny bit of lemon juice to keep them from browning. If you aren't chopping ahead of time you don't need the lemon juice.
After everything was chopped up, I then put the brown rice on the stove when there was 45 minutes left on the squash timer. I got that cooking so it would be ready to add to the stuffing when it came time.
When there was about 20 minutes left on the squash timer, I then pulled my Italian Turkey Sausage from the fridge, and cut them into round pieces, about a quarter inch thick. Then, I sprayed a skillet with nonstick spray and browned the sausage.
After the sausage was completely cooked through, I spooned them out of the pan and set aside in a medium bowl, leaving the sausage juices in the pan. Instead of having the spray the pan again, I cooked the veggies and apple in the sausage juice for added flavor.
Once the onion and mushrooms were golden, I added salt and pepper to taste, then stirred in the apples and cooked those until they were golden, but not super soft. The apples give the stuffing a little crunch and texture.
The squash timed went off and I wasn't quite done with all of the above, so I turned off the oven and let time just sit in the oven until I was ready. After all the water was gone from the rice, I added the rice to the bowl containing the sausage and mixed well. After the rice was mixed in, and the apple veggie mixture was cooked until the apples were golden, I stirred the apple and veggies in with the rice and sausage.
Now that everything is mixed together, I pulled the squash from the oven and set each half on its own plate.
I spooned the stuffing into each half (about three heaping spoonfuls). I then sprinkled a pinch of sage on top of the stuffing. If you are dairy free, or just trying to save on points, you are all done and ready to eat! Otherwise, Sprinkling about 1/2 a tablespoon of Parmesan cheese on top and enjoy!
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