Roasted Acorn Squash Stuffed with Sausage, Farro and Goat Cheese

We have not cooked enough with squash this fall and winter and are now trying to catch up!  When I first saw found this recipe, I knew that I wanted to make it.  Only recently have I learned to love the nutty, chewiness of farro.  I was a bit hesitant because the only ingredient in this recipe that I knew both kids would eat for sure was the sausage.  Our son loves all kinds cheese.  Our daughter, though,  not so much.  However, we had gone to the farmer’s market and purchased a very large acorn squash.  As an afterthought, while doing the weekly grocery shopping, I ended up picking up another two small acorn squash so we could each have our own half, and have some left over.  This ended up working out well since we had a lot of filling.  Now, this recipe does take some preparation with the roasting of the squash and the preparation of the filling.  I recommend not attempting this on a busy weeknight.  We all ended up eating this meal.  We didn’t sprinkle additional goat cheese on top of our daughter’s serving and while she didn’t love the squash, she ate it.  Meanwhile, our son, the pickiest of eaters got a 1/2 of squash that was really sweet and liked it!  This was a hearty and filling meal.  While we ate just the squash, this can be served with a side salad to round out the meal.

Roasted Acorn Squash Stuffed with Sausage, Farro and Goat Cheese
Recipe adapted from The Hungry Goddess

Ingredients:
3 medium acorn squash
3 Tbsp.  butter
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup farro
2-4 Tbsp. olive oil
2 large garlic cloves
12 oz. chicken sausage (we used al fresco Sweet Italian)
4 0z. crumbled goat cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Cut acorn squash in half, scooping out seeds with a spoon.

3. Rub the inside and outside of each squash with 1 Tbsp. of olive oil.

4. Place 1/2 Tbsp. of butter in the bottom of each squash and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

5. Roast squash in oven for approximately 30 minutes or until tender.

6.  Cook farro according to directions.

6.  While squash is roasting,  remove chicken sausage from casing and cook in large saute pan over medium heat until browned.  Once browned, remove from sausage pan and set aside, draining if necessary.  Add 1 Tbsp. olive oil to pan and add garlic sauteeing for approximately 5 minutes.  Add sausage and cooked farro to pan.  Sprinkle 3/4 of the crumbled goat cheese into the pan.  Season with salt and pepper to your liking.

7.  Once the squash have finished roasting, let them rest for 3-4 minutes.

8.  Spoon the sausage and farro mixture into each squash, sprinkling with reserved 1/4 of the crumbled goat cheese.