Pomegranate Pork Stuffed Acorn Squash is a mouth full, but it is the coziest recipe to make this autumn. We accidentally made this one night after having leftover homemade Pork Stuffing. Both Phillip and I like to meal prep and have a few different options on hand during the week. Well, towards the end is when you just start throwing things together because you want to eat everything in your fridge. One thing let to another and I was roasting and Acorn Squash while Phillip was bringing the hearty Pork Stuffing up to heat on the stove. The rest was history. We have made a few tweaks to the recipe since then but the smell of fall still fills the house every time we cook this for dinner.
Pomegranate Pork Stuffed Acorn Squash
Ingredients
- 2 acorn squash
- 1 lb ground pork or sweet italian sausage
- 2 tbsp butter
- 4 celery sticks thinly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ yellow onion chopped
- 4 sage leaves
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 1 tbsp parsley
- 2 cup stale sourdough bread or breadcrumbs or plain croutons
- ½ cup chicken broth
- ½ cup pomegranate seeds
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°
- Slice the acorn squash in half and scoop out all of the seeds and guts
- Place the squash skin side down on a foiled baking sheet. Sprink salt, pepper, and a little olive oil over the squash and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the squash is soft on the inside
- While the squash is cooking, in a pan over medium head add your pork and cook until the pork reaches 145°, drain, and set aside
- In a large pan over medium heat add the butter and let melt
- Once butter it melted add the garlic, onion, celery, thyme, parsley, and sage. Let cook 3-5 minutes or until the onion is transulent.
- Slowly pour the chicken broth into the pan with the garlic, onion, and celery and bring to a simmer. Add some salt and pepper to taste
- Add the stale sourdough bread pieces to the pan and mix well so the croutons are absorbing the chicken broth
- Stir in the cooked port and most of the pomegranates (save a little to add as a garnish at the end). Remove the sage leaves from the mixture.
- Remove the squash from the oven and stuff with the pomegranate pork stuffing, place back into the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes
- Remove from oven, garnish with a little thyme and pomegranates to serve!
Ingredients used to make the Pomegranate Pork Stuffed Acorn Squash
The main ingredients as you can guess are pomegranates, acorn squash, and pork or sweet Italian sausage. The herbs we love to use for any autumn type of dish is sage, it is the fall flavor for sure! We also chose to add thyme to add a little kick. The celery, onions, garlic, and sough dough bread really bring out the “stuffing” flavor you look for in the fall. Lastly the pomegranates give you quite a burst of flavor that any squash dish needs to really pop!
Tools needed to make the fall dish
This recipe doesn’t require anything fancy. We used a aluminum lined or baking sheet to roast the acorn squash so the clean up was quick and simple. For the stuffing we only used a large saute pan as well as a chopping board. All the tools you likely have on hand right now!
How to make Pomegranate Pork Stuffed Acorn Squash
First and foremost preheat the oven. Don’t you hate that when you’re mid-way through a recipe and forgot to turn the oven on. Than go ahead and slice your acorn squash in half and remove the seeds. Place the squash on a foil lined baking pan with the skin side down. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the squash and drizzle some olive oil over the squash. Now let this roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes.
Next up is the Pork Stuffing! Cook your pork and set aside. Next the veggies and herbs get cooked in the butter to add a creamy flavor profile to this dish. Once cooked, add in your chicken broth and sour dough bread to make this more of a stuffing. Once the stale sour dough bread pieces have absorbed the chicken broth time to toss in your pork and pomegranates. Lastly, fill the squash with the stuffing mixture and bake another 10-15 minutes and serve!
Originally when we decided we wanted a burst of flavor to this Pomegranate Pork Stuffed Acorn Squash we through about adding cranberries or craisons to the Pork Stuffing. But that thought came post-grocery store and we had 3 pomegranates on the counter ready to be used. I am sure happy we decided to use them because the burst of flavor the pomegranates provide is next level!
Storing the Pomegranate Pork Stuffed Acorn Squash
If you have leftovers… that is a big if. You should store them in an airtight container for up to 4 days. We typically have a little bit of the Pork Stuffing left over that we enjoy the next day. If you do have some squash leftover, we recommend removing the skin from the squash before storing it in the fridge. The skin should peel right off. We say this because heating it up the next day with the skin on, we have cut into the dish and got a big mouthful of skin since the squash is now jumbled up in a container.
If you love this make sure to check out:
- Farmers Market Turkey Burgers
- Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta and Sausage
- Classic Stuffed Acorn Squash
- Butternut Squash Carbonara
From our kitchen to yours, cheers!
2 comments on “Pomegranate Pork Stuffed Acorn Squash”