These stuffed acorn squash are filled with apples and lentils for a hearty vegetarian meal full of fall flavor.

Acorn is not my favorite squash, but it is the cutest.

Isn’t it?

Especially white acorn squash, gah!

It’s manageable, no risk of cutting your hands off as you try to saw through it like some of it’s relatives (I’m looking at you butternut).

And therefore, a great one to start off the season with. I’d kind of like to keep my fingertips intact.

So, how do you eat a squash you’re not crazy for besides its appearance?

You stuff it.

Stuffing is my favorite part of Thanksgiving.

And yes, it’s stuffing not dressing. Dressing is stuff you put on your salad. Got it?

Ok, now we can move on.

My mom makes the best damn stuffing in the world come Thanksgiving.

It’s one of those recipes that doesn’t have specifics. All I know is there is a lot of sausage, raisins, apples and butter. Lots and lots of butter.

I actually made these sausage cranberry apple stuffing muffins as an ode (read: easier) to her recipe. I love their cute portion controlled size!

My plate on Thanksgiving is usually about 75% stuffing, 5% turkey and 20% other sides.

Turkey is actually my least favorite part of the meal. I think the bird is just highly overrated and who really wants to wake up at 6am on a holiday to throw that sucker in the oven?

Yeah, not me.

After the holiday is over, all I find myself thinking about is what I can “stuff” with the leftover stuffing.

That’s kind of the role of the acorn squash in this stuffed acorn squash recipe. It’s a vehicle to be stuffed. You can say the same about red kuri squash (although in my opinion, it’s a much tastier squash than acorn).

While it’s cooked with butter and maple syrup, it’s really all about the stuffing inside it. <–That’s redundant huh? Stuffing by definition is “inside” I guess.

Moving on…

I wanted to make this stuffed acorn squash scream fall.

There’s nothing like some lentils, apples, onions, and rosemary for that. Dried cherries, pepitas, carrots and celery also got thrown in.

Since making this on Wednesday, I’ve eaten it in the acorn squash, by the spoonful out of the tupperware container and on a toasted flatbread with cheddar cheese.

Really, the possibilities are endless.

It would be delicious with some sausage or chicken sausage in it too if you do the meat thing.

Or, you can make this stuffed delicata squash or lamb stuffed kabocha squash instead.

I probably would’ve done that if my freezer had anything but ice cream, phyllo dough, bread and OJ in it right now.

I’m playing this new game. It’s called how long can you hold out before going to the grocery store.

I’m at 2 weeks 3 days and counting if you’re interested.

So if you’re a stuffing fiend like me, go buy a cute little acorn squash and stuff it.

It won’t disappoint.