With beautiful greens, oranges and yellows (and even some blue!), this dish belongs on a holiday table. The crystallized ginger shines through with chewy, peppery-sweet pops that make this dish spectacular. Adding blue cheese to this recipe was genius, but if you dislike it, try a good tangy goat cheese or a sharp cheddar.
Acorn Squash with Apples and Blue Cheese
4 servings
2 acorn squashes*, halved and seeded
2 Tbsp. butter
1 to 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped into ½-inch dice (about 2 cups)
¼ cup golden raisins
2 Tbsp. chopped crystallized ginger
? cup crumbled blue cheese
Kosher salt
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Place the squash cut side-down in a baking dish filled with ½ inch of water. Bake 40 minutes.
• Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the apple and saute 2 to 3 minutes. Add the raisins, ginger and ¼ cup water and bring to a simmer. Cover, remove from heat and let rest 5 minutes. Uncover and let cool.
• Remove the squash, empty the water and return the squash the baking dish cut side up.
• Stir the blue cheese into the apple mixture, then fill each squash half with about ¼ cup of the apple mixture. Sprinkle each with a pinch of salt.
• Bake 15 minutes then serve.
Dee Ryan is a longtime contributor to Sauce Magazine.
This article appears in November 2016.