Grilled & Stuffed Acorn Squash

Preparing a big holiday meal invariably pushes the capacity of your kitchen. A master conductor is required to cook the turkey, rolls, gravy, potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, and all the sides so that they all magically appear on the table at the same time. The oven can only hold so much, so you end up using the oven of the neighbor or relative as well. Does this sound like your holiday?

In recent years, cooking the bird has moved from kitchen to outdoors. Deep fried, trash can, and smoked birds have become as much the staple of the holiday table as the traditional oven roasted bird. Since you are already cooking outside so that you have room in the kitchen for the sweet potatoes and corn, why not bring some of your side dishes out there as well? I’ll show you how to cook two traditional side dishes in one and make more room inside your kitchen.

Acorn squash just looks like it was made to be stuffed with something. That perfect center cavity is great for meat, rice, or bread stuffing. The fact that they can be roasted on the grill or in the smoker means that your squash and stuffing can come out of doors with the bird.

You can be creative with what you stuff in your acorn squash, but I’m using a simple sausage and bread stuffing. First, I grabbed some sausage that I had previously smoked earlier in the week. Jimmy Dean Bold was what I had on hand, but a sage sausage product would fit well with the holiday themed meal.

1. Mix a bit of bread stuffing with water just to dehydrate slightly. You don’t want a wet stuffing as the squash will release a lot of liquid itself.

2. Combine the sausage and stuffing. More sausage is better. 2:1 is a good ratio.

3. Cut the very bottom of the squash so that it will sit upright. Cut the top crown of the acorn to reveal the cavity and remove the seeds.

4. Add a pat of butter to the bottom of the cavity and fill with your stuffing mix. Cover with your acorn crown.

5. Place in your smoker or on your grill until the squash is fork tender. Depending on squash size, figure 30-45 minutes on a 400 degree grill or 60-90 minutes in a 250 degree smoker.

Stuffed acorn squash can be used as a side dish or an entrée of their own. Experiment with your own ingredients and let us know by use of comments how you stuffed your squash.

Enjoy!