It’s been almost a week since my last post, and I just couldn’t push off blogging any longer. I know a week doesn’t sound like much, but I know myself. If I go for a week, I’ll go for two, maybe three, and before you know it, It’ll be a month without blogging.
And I have reasons too. For one, I’ve been working on Purim recipes. More importantly, my internet connection has been out of whack lately. I’ll be just in the middle of pinning an amazing recipe onto my drooling board on Pinterest when my internet goes down on me. Up and down, and up and down. And you know what the embarrassing part it is? My husband is a computer technician. But you know how it goes. The shoemakers kids and their shoes. That’s me.
So now that I’ve braved my unreliable connection (my cable has gone down about 10 times since I started working on this post), let’s get to why you’re really all here. The food.
This is one of those recipes that I dreamed up one night…literally. Does anyone else develop recipes in their sleep, or am I the only crazy one? The worst part is, I usually forget them once I wake up, but this time, it stuck with me. Maybe that’s because it’s not that complicated, and there aren’t that many ingredients. Jack’s Gourmet sweet Italian sausages are so full of flavor, you just don’t need to add much for the recipe to sing.
OK people, I’m gonna be honest here. We’re talking full disclosure. I haven’t blogged because I’m too busy on Pinterest. I’m obsessed. If you haven’t checked it out yet, go to http://www.pinterest.com/busyinbrooklyn and follow me!
Stuffed Roasted Butternut Squash
2 small butternut squashes
2 Jacks Gourmet sweet italian sausages, finely diced
2 apples, cored and thinly sliced
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
3 tbsp brown sugar
salt and pepper, to taste
Method:
Place butternut squashes on a baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees until it pierces easily with a fork, about 1 hour. Saute the sausage for a few minutes until it has browned and rendered some of its fat. Remove the sausage from the pan, but leave the drippings. Add the apples and saute until softened. Add maple syrup and continue to saute until golden and caramelized. Return the sausage to the pan and mix into the apples.
When the squash is ready, leave it to cool for several minutes. Cut it in half, lengthwise, and remove the pits. Scoop out most of the flesh, leaving about 1/2″ of squash all around. Add squash pulp, brown sugar, salt and pepper to the pan and mix to combine (dont overstir the squash, you want it to be lumpy). Lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Return the squash to the oven and bake, uncovered, until browned around the edges, about 15 minutes.
1 year ago: organic oven baked sweet potatoes
This looks yummy. Do you know if it can be made in advance and frozen?
Hmmm, good question. I haven’t tried but I think it could work. Sausages can definitely be frozen, as well as cooked apples and butternut, so I don’t see why not.
This looks so delicious! LOVE that you dreamed it up!
Where do you find the jacks sausage?
Where do you live? They also sell online at http://jacksgourmetkosher.com/
I had this sweet Italian sausage in the fridge and looked on Pinterest for an idea. I came across this recipe. I also happened to have apples and a butternut squash. So I gave it a try. I don’t always love to read comments where people “change” a recipe because then it’s not really the original recipe anymore. But I wanted to share with you, in case you ever wanted to do this again and incorporate my additions. Before sauteing the apple, I sauteed a small yellow onion. Then I added the apple and followed your recipe until the end. At the end I folded in about a tablespoon of Parmesan cheese. (Just the bottled kind in the fridge, doesn’t have to be freshly grated). I also couldn’t put my mixture back in the butternut because when I was scooping it out, the skin ripped. So I just sprayed Non-stick spray in a 2 quart casserole. Before I took the mixture of onion, apple, sausage, squash, syrup, brown sugar and cheese out of the pan, I stirred in a drizzle of half and half. Just once around the pan. Maybe 1/4-1/2 cup. I put all of that in the casserole and topped with another sprinkle of Parm. I baked at 400F until it was bubbling around the edges. It was so good… So good. I can’t explain how the onion added a little something and the cheese added this saltiness that I think really helps take your recipe to another level. But I like that sweet and salty mix. The half and half made it sort of creamy and luscious. Thank you for the inspiration!!! I can’t wait to eat the leftovers for lunch today.
Those sound like lovely additions. I’m kosher so I can’t eat parmesan with sausage but the onions sound great! Thanks for the greats tips.
HI! Love your blog and recipes!I have a question about this. After you stir squash pulp sugar s/p and return to oven do you add the pulp and sasuage back in cavity and cook it togther? or do you add “stuffing” after it cooks again? Please clarify! Thanks so much. Chag Samech.
Hi Nechama, sorry for the confusion! Add the stuffing back into the cavity and cook it together. Chag Sameach!