Heat oven to 375 degrees F and grease jellyroll pan. Rub cut sides of squash, including cavities, with 1 Tbsp. butter. Sprinkle cavities with cinnamon and pepper. Place squash, cut-sides down, in prepared jellyroll pan; bake 30-35 minutes or until tender.
While squash bakes, in 2 qt. saucepan over medium heat, melt remaining 1 Tbsp. butter. Add onion; cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until softened. Stir in brown sugar until melted. Add cranberries and cloves. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until cranberries are softened and flavors are blended.
Meanwhile, using sharp knife, remove peel and white pith from oranges; cut flesh into 1 inch chunks. Stir orange chunks and grated peel into cranberry mixture, cook 2-3 minutes longer.
Remove squash from oven; spoon about 1/2 cup cranberry-orange mixture into each cavity. Return squash to oven, and bake 10 minutes longer. Makes 8 servings.
By Robin from Washington, IA
This page contains the following solutions.
This gluten free soup is sweet, hot and spicy. It is great served with a sandwich or a meal. If you can't handle hot, cut back on the quantity of spices in the recipe.
Acorn squash is seasonal from September to December. This recipe is simple and economical. It would make a perfect appetizer served with a cheese and cracker platter for Thanksgiving!
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Can seeds from acorn or butternut squash be roasted like pumpkin seeds?
By Maryeileen from Brooklyn, OH
Hi Maryeileen. :-) You can use any pumpkin seed recipe for roasting other winter squash seeds and just make adjustments if needed. I have a Martha Stewart recipe for 'Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds' somewhere so I'll search for it, type it out and post it here in the next few hours. In the meantime, here's a plain alternate way to toast the squash seeds:
Roasting Pumpkin Seeds
You will need salt and olive oil.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Separate the seeds from the stringy core and rinse the seeds.
In a small saucepan, add the seeds to water, about 2 cups of water to every half cup of seeds. Add a half tablespoon of salt for every cup of water (more if you like your seeds saltier). Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.
Spread about a tablespoon of olive oil over the bottom of a roasting pan or baking sheet. Spread the seeds out over the roasting pan, all in one layer. Bake on the top rack until the seeds begin to brown, about 10 to 20 minutes. When browned to your liking, remove from the oven and let the pan cool on a rack. Let the seeds cool all the way before eating. Either crack to remove the inner seed or eat whole.
Okay, found the 'Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seed' recipe in my piles of paper recipe collections. Martha makes the directions way too complicated and hoity-toity for my liking so I typed out differently than she does it so as to be easier to follow and I gave oil choices, too. ;-)
Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds
1 cup fresh pumpkin seeds, cleaned and dried
5 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tbsp peanut, corn or vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Spread seeds in a roasting pan or on a baking sheet in an even layer. Bake until dry, stirring occasionally and cool on a rack.
Combine 3 tablespoons sugar, salt, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, and cayenne in a medium bowl.
Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat; add pumpkin seeds and remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and cook until sugar melts and pumpkin seeds begin to caramelize, about 45 to 60 seconds.
Transfer to spice bowl, stir well to coat and cool at room temperature.
Also, during my search I came across this next recipe that I had completely forgotten about (I don't remember where I originally found it):
Curried Pumpkin Seeds
1 egg white
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup fresh pumpkin seeds, cleaned and dried
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Whisk together the egg white, curry powder and salt in a medium bowl. Add the pumpkin seeds and toss well. Drain off excess egg white in a colander and place seeds in a single layer in a roasting pan or on a baking sheet.
Bake about 12 minutes or until the seeds are golden. Sprinkle with more curry powder and/or salt when they come out of the oven, if desired, and cool at room temperature.
At the last Farmers Market for the year, I bought an acorn squash and a spaghetti squash. Now what do I do with them? I have never cooked squash before and I am 70.
I love it so much,its very easy to cook. Wash, cut in half.face open side down in like a cake pan.cover or wrap in foil put in a preheated oven of 350' for about 20minutes. Take it out and let it continue to steam (when you wash it off make sure you leave it moist) when it is at the temp. that you can comfortably handle it ,just take a spoon (I use ice cream scoop) dish it out. Perfect, every time, it looks and tastes like spaghetti! It is so full of protein, vitamins, antioxidants not found in regular spaghetti.Instead of eating a bowl of carbs you have a " good for you" dish,that tastes great.
You will be able to tell when its done,it scoops out really easily. If your oven runs low just put in 400' keep an eye on it. If you want you can add the same toppings you would to pasta, however, I love it just the way it comes out in my bowl. Please let me know how it turns out!
Put the acorn squash in the oven after cutting it in half and cleaning the seeds out. When the squash is soft (about an hour in the oven or ten minutes in the microwave) add butter and sugar to it. Lovely. I do not know about the other squash as I have never cooked one. Check the acorn squash as you cook it because they are different sizes.
Spaghetti Squash: Cut squash along length and remove seeds. To Bake: Place cut side down and cook at 350F for 45 minutes turning over for the last 10 minutes. To Microwave: Cover with clear wrap. Cook 7-10 minutes in ¼ cup water. Pull out vegetable strands with fork. Add salt and pepper, spices, bacon bits, Parmesan, white sauce, or spaghetti sauce.
I've got quite a few additional recipes if you are interested.
The spagetti squash can be used as --spagetti--. Cut the squash across the middle, not from top to bottom, as I recall, as this keeps the strands longer. If it is fairly large, cut across lower, then higher, not just across the middle. Scrape the seeds out, place the pieces of squash either in a flat pan, with a small amount of water, cover and bake until the squash is soft, but I usually bake them in the microwave, takes less time, for sure. After the squash is soft, easy to separate the fibers, you will find that you have spagetti like strands. Pull them all out, place in a container, keep warm, and use with any sauce you choose. We have done marinara as well as the Alfredo sauces, but it is also delicious done with a light coating of basil pesto, and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese. We like that because we make our own. I will be 73 this mo. and I think we are never too old to try new foods, or learn new things. God put us here to learn and grow. Hope this has helped. Loretta from Alabama
I like to cook my spaghetti squash, whole, in the microwave. Make sure you poke it all over with a meat fork, or it will explode!
Slices of acorn squash taste delicious when flavored with your choice of seasoning and prepared in an air fryer. They are a healthy alternative to potatoes. This recipe can also be made in the oven, but it will require a longer cooking time.
Acorn squash pairs nicely with spices like ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg to make this warm and comforting soup. This page contains a recipe for spicy acorn squash soup.
Brown sugar and butter combine with versatile acorn squash to make a sweet addition to any meal. This page contains a recipe for sweet acorn squash.
This is a page about roasting squash seeds. Squash seeds are in general edible, and can be yummy snack when roasted.
This page contains stuffed acorn squash recipes. This winter squash is delicious when baked with a tasty stuffing in the center.
