Sausage & Fig Stuffed Squash (with Greens!)

We're continuing on in our series of how to use all those veggies that seem to be procreating in your fridge while you're at work. This week, I found a way to use a whole bag of greens and three of the acorn/carnival squashes that have taken up residence on my kitchen table. Using some turnip greens, hot Italian sausage, risotto, and chopped, dried figs, I created a stuffing for the squashes. The spiciness of the sausage played nicely with the sweetness of the squash and figs. Serve this with a simply dressed salad and it would make a nice dinner.

This recipe came together pretty quickly--good for a weeknight--but it is one of those multiple dish projects:

You can basically do a lot of things at once, and I think it took about an hour and a half from start to finish.

Here's how it breaks down:

Ingredients:

3 small to medium acorn or carnival squash, sliced in half from top to bottom

1/2 pound hot (or mild, if that's your thing) Italian sausage

1/2 or so (a bag full?) of greens of your choice (leaves stripped from the tough stems)

1/2 onion, diced

2/3 c. risotto or rice or couscous

2 cups chicken or beef broth or water

handful of chopped, dried figs, cranberries, or whatever dried fruit you have on hand

handful of fresh sage, chopped if available, 1 teaspoon of dried if not

1 cup or so breadcrumbs (I'm partial to panko)

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and lightly oil it. place the squash, sliced side down (no need to de-seed) on the sheet, toss in the oven. Ignore for the next 20 minutes or so.

2. While the squash is working, put on a pot of water to cook the greens...add a splash of cider vinegar and/or a teaspoon or so of sugar if you're working with bitter greens. While the water is getting to a boil, put the sausage in a skillet on medium heat and cook till brown, breaking up the pieces. When cooked through, turn off the heat.

3. While the water gets to boil and the sausage cooks, saute the diced onion in a saucepan on medium-low heat (this will also be the risotto/rice/couscous pan). I happened to have bacon fat on hand so I used that to saute the onions. When the onions are translucent and soft, add the risotto/rice/couscous and a sufficient amount of water/broth to cover (about double the amount of risotto).

4. When the greens water get to boil, toss the greens in and cook until wilted/soft, about 4 minutes. Drain, and rinse in cool water, then chop. Toss the chopped greens, sausage, chopped figs and sage in the now-empty green-blanching pot. When your risotto/rice/couscous/onion mixture is done, drain any excess water and add the risotto to the greens and sausage. Mix everything together and add salt/pepper to taste.

5. Set the bowl of stuffing aside and pull the squash out of the oven. Keeping in mind that they'll be HOT, scoop out the seeds and stringy bits in the middle. If the openings are small (and on these squash, they were) scoop out and chop some of the flesh and add it to the stuffing mix. Once they're all hollowed out, pack the stuffing into the squash. Top with breadcrumbs, cover them with foil and put them back in the oven for another 20 minutes or so.

6. When the squash is tender (poke it with a knife), remove the foil and allow the breadcrumbs to brown for a few minutes. Remove from the oven and enjoy delicious flavors of fall (preferably with a tasty brew).