Acorn squash with apple/raisin/cinnamon filling, just in time for Rosh Hashana and Sukkot!

Ingredients

1 whole acorn squash
4-5 medium apples
1/2 cup of raisins
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice mixed together (or just use "pumpkin pie spice")
1/2 cup apple cider

This is one of my all-time fall favorites, and requires almost no effort.

1. You’ll need a good-sized acorn squash (they cost about 49 cents a pound in the fall, a little more in early September).  Take a big, strong knife and cut it in half.  Scoop out the seeds and set them aside in a small bowl.

2. Rinse the two halves of the squash and place them in a pan half full of water so that the flesh of the squash is under the water and the hard outer shell is facing you.  Cook for 50 minutes at 375 degrees.

3. In the meantime, peel, core, and chop up four or five medium apples.  Toss them in a sauté pan with ½ cup of raisins, also adding cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice (the amount is up to you).  Add about a ¼ cup of orange or apple juice and about ¼ cup of water, cooking for 15 minutes over medium heat or until most of the liquid is evaporated.

4. After 50 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and pour out the water.  Scoop the mixture from the pan into the holes in the squash halves, and cook at 350 degrees for an additional 15 minutes.  There should be extra apples/raisins/etc that you can eat as well.  Enjoy!

As an added bonus, you can roast the squash seeds in the oven at 250 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Nothing says fall like stuffed acorn squash.  If you’re feeling adventurous, feel free to try spaghetti squash and meatballs, butternut squash soup with cinnamon, chayote squash, carnival squash, delicatta squash, sugar pumpkins… it’s all amazing.  Every fall we have a "squash festival" around Sukkot that features these assorted varieties; stay tuned for more yummy recipes.