Apple Stuffed Squash

It is the time of the year when squash are abundant, and one of my favorite ways to serve them are stuffed.   Stuffed squash can be a wonderful holiday centerpiece for a vegetarian meal, although I doubt any meat eaters will pass it up; it is that delicious.  I am often asked for this type of recipe, and so I thought I would share the more classic, roasted apple stuffed squash.  It may sound complicated, but really they are simple to make; you can even make them ahead of time, then reheat them if you have company coming over.  I like to use kabocha squash for this, because it is the sweetest and has a nice cavity for filling.  I keep the filling here simple, just apples, dried cranberries and pecans with a few spices and maple.  If you think you do not like squash, you should try it this way, and you may just change your mind!

Author: Amy Lyons O’Neil

Amy has worked for Fresh and Natural Foods since 2006 contributing to the variety of healthful foods we offer. She graduated with a degree in studio art from Bethel University in 2007, but in her senior year of college, found that her passion was with the art of food. She later used her photography and culinary skills to create a vegan food and recipe blog, Fragrant Vanilla Cake. She has also written 3 cookbooks. She specializes in vegan and vegetarian recipes. Local, fresh and organic food has always been her focus in whatever she creates.

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Servings: 2-4 | Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Ready in: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1 medium kabocha squash or other sweet squash, halved and seeds removed
• Coconut oil
• Filling:
• 2 sweet organic tart apples (honeycrisp or pink lady work well), diced
• Juice and zest of two organic oranges
• ½ cup dried cranberries
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp ginger
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• A pinch of sea salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400F degrees, and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
2. Place the squash cut side down on the sheet pan, and place in the oven. Bake until tender, about 1 hour, remove from the oven and keep warm.
3. Meanwhile, to make the apples, combine all of the filling ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, and cook until the apples are tender, about 10-15 minutes.  Once the apples have finished cooking spoon them into the squash halves.