Guest Blogger: My Mom (Roasted Acorn Squash)

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I'd like to welcome my mom as the first of (hopefully) many guest blogger appearances.  She made Guy Fieri's Roasted Acorn Squash recipe and highly recommends the dish and also offers tips to make this meal a success!

For my birthday this year, my beautiful daughter Lauren gave me the new cookbook called "Guy Fieri Food, Cookin' It, Livin' It, Lovin' It".  I was very excited to try a recipe from Guy's book.  I am a big fan of his show "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" and decided this past weekend to tackle a recipe. The book has beautiful pictures which I love and after much reading I decided to make Roasted Acorn Squash with Turkey Sausage, Peppers and Goat Cheese. It sounded delicious, easy and somewhat healthy. All was true but I had a few mishaps on the way.  

My first challenge was cutting the acorn squash. Lesson here is to make sure you have very sharp knives something I do not have unfortunately! After struggling with that the next step was to clean out the seeds from the squash and save them to roasted in the oven. Guy suggests to rinse the seeds well which I did and dry them with a paper towel. Sounds easy except the seeds stick to the paper towel and were difficult to get the off the paper towel. The next step was finding the correct pan so the squash could in and a pan for the seeds to get roasted in. Again sounds easy except if you have a small oven as I do. After much juggling I finally was able to get everything to fit and start the cooking of the squash for 35 to 40 minutes. The next step of preparing the vegetable and turkey went smooth again probably better if I had that sharp knife but I did succeed! 

The results of my first recipe from Guy's book was great. Both my husband and I enjoyed it and I would make it again. In fact, I will probably make it for Lauren on her next visit home. Best part is the recipe had leftovers so guess what we will have the following night...which is just fine by me. Bon Appetit!

 Thanks Mom!!

 Roasted Acorn Squash with Mushrooms, Peppers, and Goat Cheese

Acorn Squash:

2 acorn squash
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

Filling:

2 tablespoons butter
2 cups cabbage (core removed before slicing)
1 cup 1/4-inch-sliced sweet onion
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced in 1/4-inch julienne
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced in 1/4-inch julienne
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups cremini mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 ounces crumbled goat cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley, for garnish, optional

For the acorn squash: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Trim the tops and bottoms off the squash. Cut in half horizontally so the cut-ends will keep the pieces flat. Clean the inside of the squash. Separate the seeds from the membranes and rinse well. Dry the seeds with a paper towel and set aside. 

Place the squash cut-side up on a baking sheet, drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the salt and the pepper. Place the seeds on a separate baking sheet or foil. Roast the squash 30 minutes. Roast the seeds at the same time, checking and moving them around after 10 minutes and again after 20 minutes. Depending on the size of the seeds, they may be done after 20 minutes, or up to 30 minutes. Sprinkle the seeds with the remaining salt, and set aside with the squash.


For the filling: Set a large saute pan over high heat and add the butter. When melted, add the cabbage, onions, peppers, sprinkle with salt and pepper and gently toss to combine. Allow the cabbage to wilt down, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and toss to combine. Saute 2 to 4 minutes longer, and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.


For assembling: Preheat the broiler to low. Fill the roasted acorn squash halves with the filling. Sprinkle the crumbled goat cheese over the top, then top with the roasted squash seeds. Broil just until the cheese is warm. Garnish with a small amount of Italian parsley, if using, and serve.