SAUSAGE AND WILD RICE STUFFED ACORN SQUASH WITH MOLASSES GLAZE

SAUSAGE AND WILD RICE STUFFED ACORN SQUASH WITH MOLASSES GLAZE image

Yield 8 servings

Number Of Ingredients 13

4 Small Acorn Squash
1 cup of wild rice dry
1 lb bulk breakfast sausage
1/2 cup beef broth
2 sweet apples (fuji) peeled, cored and diced
1/4 cup of dried cranberries
1/4 cup of raisins
2 large green onions - chopped
1/2 cup of red bell peppers
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried chopped thyme or rosemary, depending on whatelse you are cooking
molasses

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350. 2. Cook 1 cup of wild rice. Wash rice. Boil three cups of water salted to taste. Reduce heat to a simmer and add rice. Cook for 50-60 minutes until rice is puffed open. Uncover and fluff with a fork, 3. Clean, cut in half and scoop seeds out of squashes. I recommend cutting them on the short axis, they fit in the pan better and have a fun texture. Cut a thin slice off the bottom of each half, if they don't stand up by themselves. 4. Brush the inside of each half with some molasses. Place cavity side down in ungreased 9x13 baking pans. Cover tightly with foil. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until tender when poked by fork. 5. Meanwhile, in a large non-stick frying pan cook the sausage on medium-high heat until pink and crumbly (about 5 minutes), if a lot of fat, drain some off. Then add the beef broth, apples, cranberries, raisin, green onions, bell peppers, thyme or rosemary, salt, and pepper. Cook about another 8-10 minutes until apples are tender when poked by fork. When the rice is rice done, add pan and reduce the heat to low. 6. When squash is done, uncover and turn the halves over. Fill each half equally with stuffing and brush tops of stuffing and rims of squashes with molasses. Bake uncovered for an additional 15 minutes.