By The foliage is peaking. This happened fast — a week ago it was beginning and now the ridge line above the farm is at full color, the sugar maples doing their brief annual extravagance. I drove the back road on Wednesday just to see it properly, which I do every year, which I will do every year I'm able. Thirty-nine years of Vermont autumn and it still performs as advertised.
Made apple butter this weekend — the annual project, four pounds of apples cooked down to something dark and concentrated and spiced. Eight jars, the same hex-lid jars. Carol is making her own this year from the Stowe garden apples, aiming for her second ribbon at next year's state fair. Friendly competition. She said: mine will be better this year. I said: they're different enough that we can both be right. She said: that's a very diplomatic answer. I said: it's not diplomatic, it's accurate.
Bill from Maine sent me a care package: smoked haddock from a fishing boat he knows, a jar of the apple butter he made from his own trees, a letter on blue paper. The letter said: I've been thinking about what you wrote in the post about community and food. I don't have a better word for what we have than what you already wrote. So I'll just say: thank you for writing back. I put the letter on the kitchen windowsill next to Finn's red truck. The windowsill of things I'm keeping.
After a weekend of apple butter and blue-paper letters and driving the back road just to see the maples properly, I wanted dinner to match the occasion — something that honored the season rather than just fed us through it. Acorn squash has been sitting in the root cellar since the farm stand closed for the year, and stuffed with turkey sausage it becomes the kind of meal you serve to someone who’s sent you smoked haddock and a thoughtful letter, or to Carol after she’s told you her apple butter will be better this year. It’s warm and a little sweet and entirely of this moment — which is exactly what October asks for.
Turkey Sausage-Stuffed Acorn Squash
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 50 min | Total Time: 1 hr 5 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 medium acorn squash, halved and seeds removed
- 1 lb ground turkey sausage (mild or sage-seasoned)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup cooked brown rice or wild rice
- 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Roast the squash. Preheat oven to 400°F. Brush the cut sides of each acorn squash half with olive oil and place cut-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roast for 30 minutes, until the flesh is just tender when pierced with a fork.
- Cook the filling. While the squash roasts, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and celery and cook for 4–5 minutes until softened. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add turkey sausage and cook, breaking it apart, until no longer pink, about 7–8 minutes. Drain any excess fat.
- Build the stuffing. Stir in cooked rice, chicken broth, dried cranberries, pecans, sage, thyme, salt, and pepper. Cook for 2–3 minutes until the broth is mostly absorbed. Remove from heat.
- Fill and bake. Flip the roasted squash halves cut-side up. Divide the turkey sausage mixture evenly among the four halves, mounding it generously. Sprinkle Parmesan over each. Return to the oven and bake for 15–20 minutes until the tops are golden and the squash is fully tender.
- Serve. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve warm, directly in the squash shell.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 420 | Protein: 28g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 38g | Fiber: 5g | Sodium: 520mg