A massive delicious squash with all sorts of good flavors! This would be a pretty amazing thing to serve at a Thanksgiving, but I guess I’m also up to the challenge of eating it all myself… You’ll want to give yourself about 2 hours to make this, but most of the second hour will be hands-off time. The recipe is flexible, so you can add more or less of various ingredients depending on a) what you like, and b) what’s actually going to fit in your particular squash.

Ingredients:

• 10-12 pound blue hubbard squash
• olive oil
• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 sweet onion, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• dash ground pepper
• 1 pound prepared cornbread, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 2 small/1 large apple(s), chopped
• 1/2 cup craisins
• 1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
• 1/2 – 1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

Only used one of those cornbreads in the back.

To start, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Cut the top of the squash off, cutting off enough that it’ll be easy to scoop out the seeds/goopy bits but still leave a large bottom ‘bowl’.

Remove the seeds then rub the inside of both pieces with olive oil. Place, cut sides down, on a baking sheet and bake 45 minutes, or until the inside is tender.

Meanwhile, make the stuffing: Cook the sausage in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat, breaking up well with a large wooden spoon. Once fully browned, pour off any excess grease and reduce the heat to medium-low.

Add the onion and celery and cover, then cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 10-15 minutes.

Transfer the sausage mixture to a large bowl and add the salt, pepper, cornbread, apple, craisins, parsley, and sage. Stir together well.

Heat the broth in a small pot until simmering. Drizzle a half a cup over the stuffing mixture and stir in. Add as much of the remaining broth as needed to make the stuffing feel moist, but not wet – that was about an additional quarter cup for me this time.

Transfer the mixture into the roasted squash, piling up the extra as needed, and then cover with the top of the squash.

The foil ‘support’ didn’t actually do anything, but can’t hurt…

Readjust your oven rack to the bottom 1/3 and reduce the oven temp to 350 degrees. Bake for 45 minutes, then take the lid off the squash and bake another 10-15 to brown up the top of the stuffing a bit. Get a huge spoon, and serve! Don’t forget there’s good squash in the lid too!

Stuffed Blue Hubbard Squash

• 10-12 pound blue hubbard squash
• olive oil
• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 sweet onion, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• dash ground pepper
• 1 pound prepared cornbread, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 2 small/1 large apple(s), chopped
• 1/2 cup craisins
• 1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
• 1/2 – 1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

To start, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Cut the top of the squash off, cutting off enough that it’ll be easy to scoop out the seeds/goopy bits but still leave a large bottom ‘bowl’. Remove the seeds then rub the inside of both pieces with olive oil. Place, cut sides down, on a baking sheet and bake 45 minutes, or until the inside is tender.

Meanwhile, make the stuffing: Cook the sausage in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat, breaking up well with a large wooden spoon. Once fully browned, pour off any excess grease and reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the onion and celery and cover, then cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 10-15 minutes. Transfer the sausage mixture to a large bowl and add the salt, pepper, cornbread, apple, craisins, parsley, and sage. Stir together well.

Heat the broth in a small pot until simmering. Drizzle a half a cup over the stuffing mixture and stir in. Add as much of the remaining broth as needed to make the stuffing feel moist, but not wet. Transfer the mixture into the roasted squash, piling up the extra as needed, and then cover with the top of the squash.

Readjust your oven rack to the bottom 1/3 and reduce the oven temp to 350 degrees. Bake for 45 minutes, then take the lid off the squash and bake another 10-15 to brown up the top of the stuffing a bit. Get a huge spoon, and serve!