Does acorn squash need to be peeled before cooking?

Good news: you don't need to peel acorn squash . Its hard, grooved skin softens significantly as it cooks, and it's edible, too. If you do want to remove the skin, wait until after you cook it, at which point it will peel right off.

How do you eat an acorn squash?

How to Prepare Acorn Squash Wash the squash. Wash the squash before you slice into it. ... Slice in half. Starting at the stem, pierce the squash and move the knife down toward the end of the squash. ... Split the squash. Grab each half of the squash and twist the two apart. ... Remove the seeds. ... Cut into wedges or cubes. Jul 13, 2020

Is acorn squash good for cooking?

Due to its pleasing, slightly nutty flavor, acorn squash makes an excellent addition to sweet and savory dishes alike . It can be baked or roasted in the oven, as well as cooked in the microwave for a quick side dish.

How long to cook acorn squash in the oven at 350?

1. Place squash halves, cut sides down, in a baking dish. 2. Bake in a 350°F oven 45 to 50 minutes or until tender.

How do you soften squash in the oven?

Place squash, cut-sides down, in a 9x13-inch baking dish. Pour 2 cups water into the dish around the squash halves. Bake in the preheated oven until tender and easily pierced with a fork, about 1 1/2 hours, adding more water as needed. Remove from the oven and transfer each half to a plate, cut-side up.

How do you soften acorn squash to make it easier to cut?

Here's my tip for slicing squash: Microwave for about 3 minutes and then let it cool enough for it to handle, and slice. This softens the skin, making it easier to cut.

How do you make an acorn squash easier to cut?

You can quickly soften an acorn squash before cutting it by using a microwave . Using a knife or fork, make a few small incisions in the squash to allow steam to escape. Place the squash in a microwavable bowl and heat on high for three minutes.

How do you ripen acorn squash quickly?

Once they're dry lay the squash fruits out in a warm, sunny spot . It should be about 80 to 85 degrees F. (27-29 C.), with a humidity of around 80 to 85 percent. A greenhouse table or a sunny windowsill might be perfect for your unripe green squash to cure and finish the process of ripening.

How do you cut acorn squash too hard?

The first and most important thing to have on-hand is a very sharp chef's knife or a longer, thick utility knife. Lay the squash on it's side. Raise a knife 3-4 inches above the squash and give it a little chop to break into it. Using your other hand, press down on the top of the blade and slice all the way through.

Recipe: Acorn Squash Stuffed with Bread, Cheese, and Bacon (2024)

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Elizabeth Passarella

Elizabeth Passarella is the author of the essay collection Good Apple and a contributing editor at Southern Living. A former editor at Real Simple and Vogue, she has spent more than 20 years writing about food, travel, home design, and parenting in outlets including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Parents, Martha Stewart Weddings, Coastal Living, Airbnb, and The Kitchn. Elizabeth grew up in Memphis, Tennessee and now lives with her husband and three children in New York City.

published Mar 2, 2015

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Recipe: Acorn Squash Stuffed with Bread, Cheese, and Bacon (1)

Serves2

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Recipe: Acorn Squash Stuffed with Bread, Cheese, and Bacon (2)

I have Dorie Greenspan to thank for this recipe. Last year, I wrote about her Pumpkin Filled with Bread and Cheese, a recipe I’ve since seen updated in Fine Cooking. Thing is, I’d rather eat squash than pumpkin — and I only needed to feed two people. So I swapped out the pumpkin for a more modestly sized acorn squash, along with a few other tweaks, to make this into a weeknight meal — including an all-important step for getting that delicious, caramelized crust on top!

Acorn squash was the obvious choice for downsizing Dorie’s recipe, but it had one problem: Dorie puts the cap back on her pumpkin after filling it with bread, cheese, and cream, so she had a little oven-within-an-oven.

I wanted to slice the acorn squash in half instead and leave the stuffing exposed. After a bit of trial and error, I finally figured out this awesome trick: Bake the stuffed squash upside-down, just like you would if you were roasting it. The heat gets trapped and the hard squash cooks much, much faster. The bonus? The filling, which is smashed down against the bottom of the dish, caramelizes on its surface to form a crunchy, brown crust — the perfect texture to go with the soft squash and gooey cheese.

With its nice bowl shape, the squash-to-filling ratio also ended up being just right. This is one experimental dinner that is definitely going into regular rotation.

Tester’s Notes

This is the stuffed squash that made me step outside of my stuffed squash comfort zone. Until now my stuffed squashes have been kind of weak. Without fail, I almost always end up stuffing them with some version of wild rice or quinoa, and a mix of leafy greens, mushrooms, dried fruit, and maybe some crunchy nuts. Never in my wildest dreams did I consider a filling that mixed bacon, shallots, bread, and cheese — it’s comforting, cozy and supremely satisfying.

Baking the squash cut-side down is a total game changer, as well. The top layer of the filling is wonderfully crispy and crunchy, and the surface of the squash takes on a rich, caramelized flavor.

The medium size of acorn squash gives this dish the versatility to play main course or side dish (albeit, a very filling one). If you’re making this as a main course I suggest including something a little extra, like a nice salad or small bowl of soup.

– Kelli, March 2015

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Serves 2

Nutritional Info

Ingredients

2 slices
bacon
1 small shallot, sliced thin
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chopped sage (from about 3 to 4 leaves)
1 1/2 cups bread cubes (from a crusty loaf or baguette)
3/4 cup grated cheese (try a mix of gruyere, fresh mozzarella, and cheddar!)
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 medium acorn squash, sliced lengthwise, seeds and strings removed
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Heat oven to 400°F.
Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crispy. Remove, crumble, and set aside. In the same pan, cook the shallot until beginning to brown, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sage and cook just until fragrant, about one minute (don't burn the garlic).
In a medium bowl, combine the shallot mixture, bread cubes, cheese, and bacon. Pour in the cream and stir until everything is moistened. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a few grinds of pepper.
Rub a little olive oil into the squash, coating the sliced edges and the cavity. Sprinkle over some salt and pepper. Divide the stuffing between the halves, packing it in so that the squash can still lie flat when turned upside-down.
→ At this point, the stuffed squash halves can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours before cooking. Add 5 to 10 minutes to the total cooking time.
Carefully place the squash halves upside-down in a baking dish. Bake for about one hour, until the flesh of the squash can be easily pierced with a knife. If the juices and cheeses start to burn after 30 or 45 minutes, add a few tablespoons of water to the dish. Once the squash is cooked, use a spatula (or two) to flip them over. Serve as is or slice down the middle.

Recipe Notes

The inside pocket of each squash will be a little different. Mine was quite small, so I scooped out a little extra flesh to make room for all of the stuffing.

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan. This post was originally published November 2010.

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