These stuffed acorn squash halves make a great dinner and are easy to prepare in the air fryer. You need to first zap the acorn squash in the microwave, which speeds up the process and lessons the likelihood of you injuring yourself trying to cut a very hard squash in half. The squash are stuffed with pork breakfast sausage meat and a mixture of vegetables and cheeses. You can use turkey sausage, but I've been opting for pork sausage recently, which is about half the cost of turkey sausage. You do have to drain the fat well from the pork sausage. Also, if you have them, feel free to use leftover sausage patties from breakfast (just chop/crumble up the patties). The squash halves "air fry" in about 20 minutes and make an incredibly good autumn meal. All you really need to add is some bread and perhaps a salad for a great dinner. Enjoy!
Air Fryer Stuffed Acorn Squash -- Serves 2
1 medium acorn squash
8 ounces of cooked pork breakfast sausage, crumbled
1/3 cup of chopped onion
1/4 cup of chopped celery
1/2 cup of plain yogurt (fat free is fine)
1 tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese
2-3 tablespoons of shredded cheddar cheese
2-3 tablespoons of dried cranberries (raisins are fine, too)
Salt and pepper to taste
Tear off a piece of aluminum foil to fit the bottom and a couple of inches up the sides of your air fryer basket. Fit the foil into the basket and spritz the foil with non-stick cooking spray. Pierce the squash in 3-4 places with a very sharp knife, put the squash onto a paper-towel-lined plate, cover the squash loosely with another paper towel, and microwave the squash for 5-7 minutes, or until it's slightly soft to the touch and you can pierce the squash easily with a knife. Split the squash into two halves. I usually do it stem-to bottom. Set the squash aside to cool a little. While it's cooling, combine the onion and celery in a medium bowl or measure, add a tablespoon of water, and microwave them for a minute or two until they soften. Stir in the pork sausage, the yogurt, Parmesan cheese, shredded cheddar, and cranberries. Taste the mixture and add a little salt and pepper if you like. Set the mixture aside and go back to the squash. Remove the seeds and inner membrane, creating a cavity in the squash halves. Stuff the cavity with your sausage mixture. Place the filled squash halves on the aluminum foil in the air fryer basket. Spritz the tops of the filled squash halves with a little non-stick cooking spray or olive oil. Air fry the squash halves at 320 degrees for about 20 minutes or until deeply browned. Remove the squash halves from the air fryer basket carefully using the aluminum foil as a sling. Let the squash halves cool a little before serving them.
Comments