Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash

Food for stick season

Auntie CWD¹ recently turned us on to the album Stick Season by Noah Kahan and I’ve been listening to it on semi-repeat fairly consistently for the last few weeks². Kahan grew up in Vermont (and I think Hanover, NH), and throughout the album opines on the confines of New England, and specifically, “stick season” — the season between fall and winter, when the trees are losing their leaves — which we’re in the middle of here now.

In an interview, Kahan describes stick season as “a time of transition” and “super depressing.” He even goes so far as to say that “no one likes it.”

I disagree. I like stick season. I like the tail end of fall. Sure, autumn is at it’s peak, when you’ve got blazing reds and oranges on the trees, when you’ve got crisp mornings and bright afternoons. And sure, winter, with its sparkling white frost and snow, is breathtaking³. But there is something to be said for transitions — for the memory of what’s leaving⁴ and the anticipation of what’s to come. Walt Whitman⁵ once wrote that he had “perceiv’d that to be with those I like is enough⁶.” I think the same can (and should) be said for enjoying the seasons. Your expectations can pretty quickly become your reality.

Cooking for this transitory season is fun. Out comes the slow cooker, the roasting pans, the long braises. While summer screams quick and light, fall is asking for slower, deeper flavors⁷. This recipe makes use of some the seasonal produce — winter squashes⁸ — and augments them with impossible-to-go-wrong sausage.

Give it a shot — this works just as well on a weeknight as it does for a lazy weekend. Could be a perfect appetizer for Stick Season.

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Preheat your oven to 350(F). Cut at least one acorn squash⁹ in half, scoop out the seeds, and drop a pat of butter in the middle¹⁰. Place on a baking pan, and pop in the oven for about 45 minutes.

Remove the casing¹¹ from a couple pounds of sausages¹², break up the meat, and drop into a large pan with some butter or olive oil. Cook until starting to brown and mostly cooked through. Dump on top a diced onion, garlic, and some chopped kale or other hearty greens. Season with salt and pepper. stirring frequently, until the kale has cooked down and the sausage is fully cooked. Squeeze in a lemon or a splash white wine, cook for a few more minutes, and then turn off the heat.

When the sausage is done, check the squash. If it’s fork-tender and browning, go ahead and take it out, scoop as much filling as your comfortable with on top, grate some parm cheese over the whole mess¹³, and pop under the broiler until the cheese is gooey and squash browned. You can slice this in quarters and dump some additional sausage mix on top if you'd like.

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So there you have it. Every fall, I’m reminded again how much I enjoy eating winter squash¹⁴, so this is another way to quickly add it into your diet. I'd encourage you o play around with what you use for the vessel, what you use for the filling, and what you use for the seasonings. Because we were using premade sausage here, we kept the added seasoning pretty light, but I could see this working well with some warmer flavors. You might also try this out with some roasted pork or chicken. Whatever floats your boat.

I don’t have much else for you. We’re honing in on Thanksgiving, so I’m thinking next week we might start strategizing a menu. If you haven’t done it already, you might want to consider finding and pre-ordering a turkey from your local purveyor — though there’s nothing wrong with a 25lb goliath¹⁵ from Publix, Mom! Whatever you do, I'd highly recommend brining it this year. But we can talk about that next week.

Enjoy the weekend, get outside, and crunch some sticks.

PS - reader comments

1. Auntie E., for the record.

2. I read somewhere that after you turn 33, you stop listening to new music. Van, my barber, has an opinion on this. One of the markers of “having it” or not is if you can listen to and enjoy new music — and even more specifically, if you get bored of listening to the same music repeatedly. Every time I’m getting a hair cut, something new is playing. This is probably another indication that I don’t have it, since I’m perfectly content listening to the same thing over and over and over.

3. Pun!

4. Pun!

5. Writing Leaves of Grass, but equally relevant for sticks.

6. See “I Sing the Body Electric,” on which I wrote one of my favorite papers on in college.

7. That being said, we had fish tacos last week.

8. At Whole Foods the other day, a dude from Row 7 produce was hawking his Koginut Squash — which he described as a “f*cking awesome squash.”

9. You can actually probably use any winter squash — spaghetti, butternut, honeynut, maybe even a pumpkin if you’d like.

10. A drizzle of olive oil would work too, add some maple syrup if you’re feeling really indulgent.

11. And give them to your dog if you’re so inclined.

12. We used a mix of hot Italian, garlic and herb, and white wine and shallow. Feel free to mix whatever looks best at wherever you get your sausages.

13. Parmigiano Reggiano is, of course, the king of cheeses, but any firm grating cheese works well. We’ve had success with Italian Cheddar from High Lawn Farms if you can find it.

14. I think I mentioned previously that Mrs. CWD made the same remark a few weeks ago.

15. Or two!