Acorn Squash Stuffed with Chorizo Sausage

Bean and sausage stuffed acorn squash makes for a great dinner that’s easy, full of flavor, and vegetable focused. It’s the sort of meal I love making any day of the week, since I can make the stuffing while the squash bakes, and then finish it all off together while I get a salad on the table. And my family loves it too. My daughter isn’t always a big fan of winter squash, but she loves it when I stuff it with beans and chorizo.

I have a stuffed summer squash recipe too that she loves. It’s the only way I can get her to eat summer squash! Perhaps she just loves the fun of filling a vegetable with tasty add-ins, like cheese and sausage and beans. However, I’m not going to complain when she happily eats her portion. Don’t think that simply because I can cook all sorts of yummy food that my daughter is always impressed. (Hint: She isn’t. 🙂 )

I’ve made other recipes for stuffed acorn squash over the years, but she is fan of chorizo, along with the rest of the family, so I went for Spanish spicing and flavors here. I paired the chorizo with manchego and added some paprika to the party. This gave the dish a nice, harmonious feel to my mind, and my taste buds were happy too.

Once I had the main ingredients down, it was time to tackle a problem I sometimes have with roasted acorn squash. Since the filling is fairly dry mixture, sometimes the squash tastes a little dry. This is not something you want! I solved that by adding a bit of chicken broth to each squash before I added the filling. If you don’t have chicken stock, you could add water; however, I’d switch to something flavorful, like a bit of butter or cream in the bottom. Either would add flavor to the dish along with moisture, like the chicken stock.

Also, do not pile the cheese on top! Make sure you mix it into the stuffing mixture. I had forgotten how important that was and put the cheese only on top while I was developing the recipe. What you will end up with is a cap of cheese that doesn’t melt into the stuffing while keeping all the heat in. The first time we had hard, separate cheese that peeled off and the stuffing was so hot. So, so hot. Mix in the cheese and it’ll flavor the whole dish while not acting as a heat shield.

– Happy Eating, Annemarie

Acorn Squash Stuffed with Chorizo Sausage

 

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Prep/Hold time

10 mins

Cook time

35 mins

Total time

45 mins

 

Acorn squash is roasted and then filled with a delicious and flavorful mixture of chorizo, cannellini beans, and manchego to make a great, easy dinner.

Author: Just a Little Bit of Bacon

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: Spanish

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 2 medium acorn squash, halved and seeds scooped out
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 6 oz chorizo, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 tsp paprika
• 4 oz manchego, shredded
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 4 tbsp chicken broth

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450F.
2. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly oil the sheet and the acorn squash. Roast squash cut side down for 20-30 minutes, or until soft. This will vary depending on the size.
3. While the squash is roasting, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chorizo and cook, stirring frequently until starting to brown, 10 minutes. Add garlic and cannellini beans. Saute for 5 minutes more and then remove from heat. Stir in the paprika, manchego and green onions.
4. When the squash are done, turn them over on the baking sheet. Add one tablespoon of broth to each squash half and poke it with a fork to let the broth soak in a bit. Divide the chorizo stuffing mixture among the squash halves, mounding it up in each.
5. Return the squash to the oven and roast for for 5 minutes more.

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