Creamy Wild Rice Stuffed Acorn Squash hits every single craving.
Truly, I challenge you to eat this and tell me you were missing something. It’s salty, creamy, crunchy, a little sweet, savory, not to mention it’s wrapped in a beautiful festive presentation.
Move over mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallows. There’s a new side dish in town, and it’s going to put your one-texture situation to shame.
Inside of these harvest beauties there is:
real maple syrup
wild rice (obviously, Megan, thank you…)
seared mushrooms with minced garlic and onion
honey goat cheese and a splash of heavy cream (you’re welcome)
baby spinach (need your vitamins)
craisins and sliced almonds
Does all of that sound weird together? I get it, but let me break it down.
The maple and warm spices (which actually play VERY well with creamy rice and squash) are baked with the acorn squash pre-filling. There’s no stirring in maple syrup into the rice mixture. This is by no means a dessert recipe where the squash is actually filled with rice pudding.
The seared mushroom and creamy goat cheese wild rice is very savory, but when we add together our favorite autumn salad toppers- enter spinach, craisins, and almonds- we get a whole new filling. Hello you wonderful filling friend.
This recipe comes together very quickly after the squash is roasted, but truthfully the entire process is wayyyyy easy and you’ll enjoy the praise of your Martha Stewart or Ina Garten dinner presentation.
Let’s do this thing. For 4 servings you will need:
2 acorn squash, cut in half length wise with seeds removed
1/2 cup real maple syrup
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
salt and pepper
1 cup dry wild rice
2 cups vegetable stock with 2 cups water
1/2 yellow onion, diced into small pieces
4 garlic cloves, mashed into a paste
2 tablespoons salted butter
2 cups cremini mushrooms, cleaned and cut in quarters
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 cups baby spinach
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup crumbled honey goat cheese (or plain goat cheese with 2 teaspoons honey added)
1/4 cup craisins
1/4 cup toasted almond slices
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Prick each acorn squash with a fork, season with salt and pepper. Place them on a baking sheet cut side up. Divide the maple syrup, olive oil, nutmeg, and cinnamon among the squash making sure to brush it all throughout the cavity.
Bake for 30-45 minutes depending on the size of the squash. When a fork can pierce the flesh easily, they are done!
When the squash are baking, prepare the rice.
Wild rice takes a long time to cook, so you can make this the day before if you’re a planner! Good for you, please teach me. I made it at the same time and it timed out pretty well. Next time though…
Boil the vegetable stock and water. When the stock is boiling, add in your cup of wild rice. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 45-50 minutes or until tender.
In a saucepan, sauté the onions with a splash of olive oil until they are just translucent. Add in the red pepper flakes, and bump up the heat to medium high. Place the butter in the pan, and add in the mushrooms. Brown the mushrooms for 2 minutes before adding in the crushed garlic.
Your kitchen should be smelling goooooood right about now, friend.
Turn the heat back down to medium-low, and add in the baby spinach just to wilt.
Add in the goat cheese, and heavy cream, followed by 1 1/2 cups of the cooked wild rice.
**NOTE** You do not need to use all of the rice. Depending on your taste, you may want to save some of the wild rice for another recipe or to throw into some delicious soup. 1 cup of dry rice makes a lot of cooked.
Taste for seasoning, adjust, and fold in the craisins and almonds.
Add the filling mixture to your squash, and pop back into your 350 oven for 10 minutes or so to bring it all together.
I’m legitimately salivating right now…
Happy Fall Y’all!