Sausage Stuffed Butternut Squash with Spinach, Pecans, and Cranberries

I didn’t eat a lot of winter squash until the last few years. Loved all the summer ones, but winter ones were seemed like more work.  That began to change with sheet pan soup recipes.  I loved velvety butternut squash soup.  Then recipes using butternut squash began to trend. There had to be a new one in my feed almost every day. 

I tried several - One Pan Butternut Squash, Chicken and Rice, Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto, and Warm Pasta Salad with Butternut Squash, Apple, Goat Cheese & Pecans. All were tasty, although some were better than others. Most were easy, with the exception of the risotto. I always struggle making risotto. 

It is now deep into fall with winter almost here, so I found myself drawn to trying more. This recipe is from a site called Julia’s Album. Her image was fabulous, but I struggled making mine look like that, especially the color (hers almost an orange, mind more yellow) , and it was little awkward to eat. But I loved the flavors, as did my husband, so have been considering how to take the clements and pull them together differently. I also didn't like discarding part of the cooked squash. What I might try is simply getting larger squash and cross slice the long necks into thick one inch slabs, then roast.  To serve you would arrange several on a plate and the pan pile the stuffing on top. Maybe not quite as fancy looking, but easier. However, if I want to do her presentation, I will make sure to use what I remove to make a pot of butternut soup.

I did make 2 changes to the original recipe. I used a chicken Italian sausage to bring down the amount of fat and calories which are very high in the original. I also added a very small amount of shredded, smoked Gouda (about an ounce, or a tiny bit more) to add a subtle extra note to the flavors. It was great, but you only want a little so it stays in the background. Enjoy!

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Sausage Stuffed Butternut Squash with Spinach, Pecans, and Cranberries

Serves 2 as a main dish

Ingredients -

Roasted Butternut Squash -
2                     Butternut squash medium or  one large
2 T                 Olive oil
¼ tsp              Salt
Black pepper freshly ground

Sausage filling -

1 T                 Olive oil
1                    Onion small, diced
14 oz             Italian sausage spicy crumbled (I subbed a mild chicken Italian sausage - less fat and calories)
4                    Cloves garlic minced
1 T                 Italian seasoning
4 oz.              Baby spinach fresh
½ C               Dried cranberries
½ C               Pecans chopped

Instructions -

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Slice each butternut squash in half lengthwise. Keep fingers away from the knife to avoid injury. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and fleshy strands tangled with the seeds. sheet. Drizzle the cut sides of the butternut squash halves with olive oil and rub the oil into the squash. Season generously with salt and pepper. Turn the squash halves over, and place it cut sides down on a baking sheet. Tip: you can line the baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean-up.  Roast in the preheated oven at 400 F for 30 or 40 minutes.  Note - next time I may use larger squash and cross slice the necks into 1” thick slices and roast the flat.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil, add diced onion, and cook it on medium-high heat for about 2 minutes until cooked and a bit charred. Add crumbled sausage, minced garlic, and Italian seasoning and cook for about 5 minutes or more on medium heat until the sausage is completely cooked through. Add fresh spinach and cook for another 5 minutes on medium heat until the spinach wilts. Add dried cranberries and chopped pecans and mix everything. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove squash from the oven and turn the cooked squash halves cut sides up. Let cool slightly. Using a spoon, scoop out the flesh leaving about a 1-inch border along the sides. (Note - I didn’t want to do this and lose all that squash, so just piled the topping on. Not as prettty.  If you do, then set this aside and make soup.). Add the small amount of cheese to the sausage mixture in the pan and reheat.  Divide the sausage filling among the 4 halves and stuff the squash until the mixture is level or a little bit higher. Top with freshly ground black pepper and fresh thyme.