Stuffed acorn squash

Picked up some nice golden acorn squash at the market this morning. I want to stuff them with something including ground turkey, some leftover brown rice, onions, pine nuts, chopped zucchini, fresh parsley... should I put in anything else? Raisins, or dried cherries, maybe? It needs to be gluten-free (e.g., no bulgur or anything else made from wheat).

Also--what is the best way to precook the squash before I split and stuff?

Thanks.

So I split it and cooked it face-down and covered in a roasting pan until tender. Made the filling I described above using dried cranberries and pecans. I seasoned it with s+p and dried thyme. And it was bland! The squash itself was almost tasteless and the filling disappointingly lacking in flavor. I think if I try this again I would add a bit of orange zest to the filling. Or give up on stuffed squash.

don't give up yet! did you caramelize the onion in the stuffing? also try adding some butter and a dash of nutmeg to the roasted squash before filling it.

Yes, don't give up on an idea that sounded good to me! For me, tasteless usually means not enough salt or fat. If you just assembled all of the pre-cooked stuffing ingredients w/o sauteing them together layer by layer in butter/oil, then I would try that next time (add salt and pepper to taste). Let cool a bit before stuffing. I would also baste the squash w/ a mixture of melted butter, brown sugar, and salt before stuffing. Fat + salt + heat = flavor. Of course, you can substitue chicken broth for fat if you are trying to keep it healthier. Hope this helps...

Thanks for these suggestions--perhaps I will try again. Another mistake I might have made is to cover the roasting pan when initially baking the squash, so it steamed rather than truly roasting, diluting the flavor of the squash instead of concentrating it.

I cut mine in half first and seed it, put a tbs of butter in each side, then bake at 500 for 20-25 mins or so. And then stuff and reheat at a lower temp.

I think what you have for the stuffing sounds fine thought maybe walnuts instead of pine and then add some dried cranberries?

You can nuke the squash pretty easily if you want it cooked quickly. Just cut in 1/2, wrap the 1/2's entirely in plastic wrap (or place in micro safe dish and cover tightly w/ wrap) and micro in 2-3 minute increments until tender.

My preferred method however is to spray a jellyroll pan w/ olive oil and place squash cut side down on the pan. Roast for about 45 minutes to an hour. Then add the cooked stuffing and put under the broiler for a minute or two to brown the tops.

What's a jellyroll pan?

Some people refer to it as a cookie sheet.

Although back in the day, I was taught in home ec that a cookie sheet was a flat sheet of metal with no sides, while a jelly roll pan had sides that were about one inch tall.

Exactly, a jelly roll pan has sides, a cookie sheet does not. You will get run off when you roast squash so thats why I prefer a jelly roll pan.