All Stuffed Everything: Mushrooms and Winter Squash with Kale Apple Sausage Stuffing

It's time for the things that you reach for when you want something hot and filling and savory, and if you're like me, you have ALL THIS SQUASH. For the rest? Clear out your fridge! The key elements here are the greens (which are chewy and slightly bitter), the apples (which are soft and sweet), the meat/cheese/mushrooms (which are substantial and savory), and the starch, which adds bulk. With those parameters, play around with whatever you've got!

Ingredients: 

• 4-5 small squash or 1-2 large squash. Any kind with a large cavity will do - acorn, delicata, dumpling, or even pumpkin, why not?
• 2 leeks or 2 onions, or one of each.
• 1 bunch kale
• 2 large apples or 3 small ones
• 1 package whole button mushrooms
• 1 cup dried fruit. I used raisins.
• 2 stale sandwich rolls or 1 cup dried-up takeout rice
• 1 egg
• about 3 tbsp worth of savory cheese. Almost any kind will work. Blue is nice.
• optional: 2 sausages

Directions:

Cut your squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Save them - you'll use them in a different recipe.

Cook your squash. If you really really want to, you can roast them, but it's much less trouble and time to simply turn them cut side down in a microwave safe dish and cook it on high for five minutes. Prod it with a fork and see if it needs more time. It probably will. They're done when you can sink a fork into the flesh without much resistance.

While that's going on, core and chop the apples. Chop the tough upper leaves off the leek, and mince the rest up nice and fine. Put a little fat in a skillet and start frying the apples and leeks together.

Next step you can do in the same skillet if you want, but I decided to keep the two separate so I could have some vegetarian stuffed squash in the mix. Henceforth the meat skillet will be Skillet 2, and the apple skillet Skillet 1.

For Skillet 2, pull out the stems of the mushrooms and mince them. Mince the second leek or onion. Begin frying the sausage in Skillet 2, breaking it up as it cooks. Add the mushrooms and onions and cook them all until the onions are caramelized.

 Chop your kale finely and add it to Skillet 1. Add the dried fruit. Cook until the kale is wilted; you may need to add a splash of water to the skillet to help it along.

I have some old stale sandwich rolls in the freezer that had no conceivable use other than as bread crumbs. If you have something similar, crumble one roll into each skillet. You can use basically any starch for this. I've used uninspiring takeout rice. You could use couscous or quinoa. Either way, about half a cup per skillet.

Add an egg and about a tablespoon and a half of savory cheese to each skillet. You're using the cheese for flavor, not for bulk, so the stronger the better. Stir it all together and shut off the heat.

Pack your mixtures into the mushroom caps and the squash halves, and put them in a 350 oven for about half an hour. Check on the mushrooms after 10 minutes. The squash may need more time, depending on how well you nuked them beforehand.

These will keep very nicely in the fridge and make a great ready-made meal during the week, when you can't be bothered to come up with something else. Stick one of these beside a cup of soup, and you are good for Fall.