Chicken Sausage & Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash – serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 Medium Acorn Squash
• 1/2 sweet onion, chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1 tbsp. EVOO
• 1 tsp Kosher Salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1 tsp Fresh Rosemary, chopped finely
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/2 lb Publix Premium Apple & Gouda Chicken Sausage (2.5 links) chopped finely
• 1 apple chopped (I used a gala)
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Cut off the very top and bottom of each squash to create a flat base on each side. Slice the squash in half, scrape out seeds to create individual bowls for the stuffing. Drizzle each squash half with some EVOO, salt, and pepper, and roast in a preheated oven at 400˚F for about 45 minutes.
2. While squash is roasting, heat EVOO in a large fry pan over medium heat; add onion, celery, salt, pepper, and rosemary. Cook until onions begin to soften. Add garlic and sausage, until sausage is browned on all sides. Add apple until slightly softened. Finally mix in Bread Crumbs and Parmesan cheese just until incorporated. Remove from heat.
3. Once Squash has finished roasting (when you can easily poke it with a fork) remove from oven and fill each with prepared stuffing mixture. Return to oven for 20 minutes - adding a sprinkle of parmesan cheese to the top for the final 5 minutes.

Nutritional Info (per serving): 286 calories; 5.7g fat; 2.8g saturated fat; 40mg cholesterol; 548mg sodium; 925mg Potassium; 46g carbs; 6g fiber; 16g protein.