Vegan recipe: Sausage and Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash

Sausage and Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash

Ingredients:
1 pkg Gimme Lean® Sausage
2 c water
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion coarsly chopped
6 stalks celery chopped fine

1 Tbsp fresh sage 1 tsp dried

1 Tbsp fresh thyme 1 tsp dried
6 oz plain stuffing cubes or 8 cups toasted bread crumbs
1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
1 medium apple diced, any kind
1/3 c apple cider
2 large acorn squash cut in half and seeded
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450°. Brown Gimme Lean® Sausage in a non-stick skillet sprayed with a little olive oil, breaking it up and crumbling it with a spatula as it browns. Set aside. Bring water and olive oil to a boil in a covered pot over high heat. Stir in onion, celery, sage, and thyme. Cook, covered, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in stuffing cubes, salt and pepper, applesauce, apple cider, and the browned sausage, mixing to combine. Taste for seasonings.

Divide the stuffing evenly among the acorn squash halves. Arrange the halves in a roasting pan and pour water around (not on) the squash to 1 inch. Spray a piece of aluminum foil large enough to cover the pan with olive oil spray. This will prevent it from sticking to the stuffing. Cover the pan tightly, tending slightly with the sprayed side down. Bake for about 1 1/4 hours, or until the squash is tender when pierced with a fork.