Outdoor Dinner Recipe

This is the perfect time of year to make acorn squash. Acorn squash has a mild, buttery flavor, and it’s easy to prepare. You can do most of the prep for this recipe at home and wow your pals at the campsite with this hearty, delicious dish.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Serves: 4  
Campsite Difficulty: 8/10 
 
 
Must-Have Tools:  

• Conventional oven (if you pre-cook and prep at home)
• Dutch oven 
• Cast iron or heavy skillet  

 

Ingredients: 

• 2 acorn squash, sliced in half and with seeds removed 
• 1 pound of mild Italian sausage 
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil, divided 
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• Pinch of salt, to taste
• One apple, cored and diced  
  Pinch of black pepper 
• ½ cup of shredded parmesan cheese
•  2 cloves of minced garlic
• ½ teaspoon of ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon of allspice 
• 4 or 5 leaves of sage, freshly chopped
• 4 ounces of Brie cheese, cut into small cubes (optional) 
• ¼ cup of Parmesan cheese 

 

Directions:

1. If prepping at home, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Otherwise, at the campsite, make your fire and heat your Dutch oven to about 350 degrees. (Use a Dutch oven coal chart for the correct amount of coals — if you are using a 12-inch Dutch oven, you’ll use 17 coals on top, 8 on the bottom.)
2. Prepare the squash. Take the seedless squash halves and scoop out most of the meat until you have “walls” of ½ inch thickness. Drizzle with about a tablespoon of olive oil and place on a baking sheet and bake for about half-hour in your conventional oven at home or in your Dutch oven at the campsite, or until the edges of the squash start to wrinkle and the meat is fork-tender.
3. For the stuffing, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in the skillet and brown the sausage. Add onion, salt, apple, pepper, garlic, nutmeg, allspice, and cook until most of the liquid is gone, or about 8 minutes.
4. Pack the squash and stuffing separately in reusable containers if prepping at home, and plan to make the rest of the dish at camp.
5. At the campsite, place the Brie cheese (optional) in the squash halves, add the stuffing, and top with Parmesan cheese. Place the halves face up in your Dutch oven and bake for about 15 minutes, until the cheese on top starts to brown. Remove and serve.   
    
   Pairs well with a warm fire after a long day of mountain biking.