Thursday, December 19, 2019

Fancy Stuffed Acorn Squash #Christmas @LucyBurdette



LUCY BURDETTE: How I love Christmas in Key West! I admit that I do miss the lights and snow of New England, until I have to drive somewhere or slip and fall on the ice...I also love writing mysteries with Christmas in them. If I count them up, I've had three--PREACHING TO THE CORPSE (written as Roberta Isleib), plus DEATH WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS and the forthcoming THE KEY LIME CRIME. It's so much fun to write about the quirky holiday traditions of our island. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Now onto food...


I came across a recipe for baked acorn squash and decided to try making them filled with Cornbread Sausage Stuffing. This was so good--I decided it could definitely go on a Christmas menu. Plus, look at all the red and green! It could serve either as a main dish or a very nice side dish, or take out the sausage and serve it to your vegetarian eaters. They won't feel the least bit deprived!

Ingredients

2 acorn squash
1 pound bulk sausage, fried and crumbled
2 large leeks, cleaned and chopped
3-4 sticks celery, finely chopped
1 tablespoons butter or olive oil
2 cups cornbread, crumbled
3 or 4 fresh sage leaves
¼ cup Parmesan
2 cups chopped Spinach
1 red pepper, chopped
Chicken or beef broth
1 egg


Preheat the oven to 350. Cut the squash in half, from stem to end. Clean out the seeds and webbing and spray the edges with a little olive oil. Place these halves upside down on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Meanwhile….

Cook the sausage until well done, breaking it into small pieces as it browns. Drain the sausage well on a plate covered with paper towels. Wipe the frying pan clean and add the olive oil.


Add leeks, pepper, and celery to the pan and sauté in the oil several minutes until soft. If you have some fresh sage leaves, cut those into slivers and add them here.

Wash and chop the spinach. Add this to the pan and cook until just wilted.

Grate the parmesan. Crumble the corn muffins or bread.

In a large bowl, mix the crumbled cornbread, sausage, vegetables, and Parmesan cheese. Mix this all together and add a little beef or chicken stock if it seems dry. Beat the egg and then mix this into the stuffing.

When the squash is almost tender (about half an hour), remove the pan and flip the pieces over. Mound the filling into the hollow centers, and roast another 20 to 30 minutes until lightly browned on top and heated through. This recipe makes a lot of filling so you could probably make and stuff a third squash too.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone!

Are you still on the hunt for stocking stuffers? Lucy writes the Key West food critic mysteries and they slide beautifully under the tree...A DEADLY FEAST is in bookstores now, with THE KEY LIME CRIME to follow in July. And speaking of following, you can find and follow Lucy on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!


I'm super-grateful to have my next book, THE KEY LIME CRIME (July 2020), available for pre-order!



You can order it at an independent bookstoreBarnes and Noble, Amazon, and anywhere books are sold!


11 comments:

  1. This sounds quite yummy!
    Nice idea.

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  2. This looks delicious! Love all the colors. ~ Daryl

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  3. Wonder why I hadn't thought of that before?! I
    usually stuff them with walnuts or pecans,dried
    cranberries or cherries & honey or maple syrup and
    a touch of butter. Thanks for the inspiration, Lucy/Ro!

    ReplyDelete
  4. That sounds so good! Going on the menu! Thanks

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  5. My sister loves squash. I'll have to tell her to try this.

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