Wild Rice And Walnut-Stuffed Acorn Squash Recipe

Seasonal recipes bring out the best in market-fresh ingredients, from peak flavor to optimal nutritional value. This vibrant wild rice and walnut-stuffed acorn squash dish from recipe developer Julie Kinnaird is filled with layers of texture and taste that highlight the bounty of fall. Crunchy walnuts and chewy wild rice fill sweet roasted squash seasoned with smoked paprika, chile, cinnamon, and cumin.  A tart and fresh relish of pomegranate arils, parsley, and mint add a colorful and antioxidant-packed finish to the dish.

Many varieties of winter squash tend to be mild in flavor and work as a blank canvas for other ingredients. Acorn squash has a subtle sweetness and nutty flavor that is versatile in both sweet and savory preparations. In this case, the squash is treated almost like a protein, getting a dry rub of intense spices which infuse the flesh while it roasts. Using a wild rice blend for the stuffing (wild rice combined with brown or other rice varietals) lightens up the texture and helps it bind together more easily than using wild rice alone.

The pomegranate relish might just be our favorite feature of this hearty plant-based dish. Using the freshest herbs possible maximizes the flavors — you may want to just eat it by the spoonful!

For the first part of this recipe you will need two large acorn squash and a mix of smoked paprika, chile powder, cinnamon, and cumin to create the dry rub for roasting the squash.  Flavor a wild and brown rice blend with sautéed shallot, then add raw walnuts to form the filling. For the second part of this recipe, you'll combine pomegranate arils, vinegar, lemon juice, Italian parsley, mint, olive oil, and a little salt and pepper to create a relish topping. Pomegranate vinegar is best for enhancing the fruit flavor, however red wine vinegar is a suitable substitute.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Drizzle ½ tablespoon olive oil into each squash half.

Combine the spices, 1 teaspoon sea salt, and the pepper in a small bowl. Sprinkle this mixture evenly into the halves, using fingers to coat the flesh.

Place each squash half cut side-down on a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast in the oven until squash is fork-tender (about 30 minutes).

While the squash is roasting, bring the water to a boil in a medium pot with 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 teaspoon sea salt.

Add the rice to the pot and stir.

Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 50 minutes.

Turn off the heat and let the rice sit and steam for 5 minutes longer. Uncover, fluff with a fork, and cool slightly.

Place each baked squash half cut side up in a shallow baking dish.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small sauté pan and add shallot, cooking until softened (about 5 minutes).

In a large mixing bowl, combine shallot, cooked rice, and walnuts. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and mix thoroughly. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Divide the rice mixture between each squash cavity. Drizzle each with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil.

Return the stuffed squash to the oven and bake for about 15 minutes until golden brown and heated through.

While the squash is baking, cut 4 slits in the pomegranate to create quarters.

Pull the quarters apart and carefully remove the seeds from the husk. Use gloves to prevent staining fingers from the juice.

Combine all ingredients for the relish in a medium bowl.

Remove baking dish from oven and top each squash half with some of the pomegranate relish. Serve immediately.

This eye-catching stuffed squash dish has a strong Middle Eastern influence in the ingredients. Smoked paprika, cinnamon, and cumin are classic flavors of the Middle East. This combination of spices gives the relatively mild squash a warm flavor and bit of heat that really changes the character of the dish. The colorful pomegranate seeds, or arils, also give a nod to Middle Eastern cultural significance and pack a superfruit punch! Walnuts, parsley, and mint are also widely used and popular staples across the Middle East — think dishes like muhammara and tabbouleh.

American influences also come across in this recipe. The sweet and nutty acorn squash is an indigenous North American variety, most often associated with Thanksgiving and fall fare. You'll often see it alongside beans and corn to collectively form the three sisters, a culinary trinity in Indigenous cooking. Similarly, wild rice (actually a grass) is native to the Great Lakes region of the United States. Both of these ingredients give a nod to native American cuisine.

This dish works particularly well for Thanksgiving or other festive fall and winter gatherings. To save time on preparation, several steps may be done in advance in order to finish the dish last minute before serving. First, you can clean the squash and prepare the dry rub 2 days in advance. Be sure to wrap the squash halves tightly in plastic and keep them refrigerated, and do not apply the rub until shortly before baking so that the salt does not pull liquid out of the flesh. Next, the squash halves may be roasted a full day in advance and kept in the roasting dish wrapped in foil. The rice stuffing will also hold up a day in advance under refrigeration.

On the day of serving, bring the squash and stuffing to room temperature before assembling and baking.  Filled squash can be reheated right before service if needed, but be sure not to let them get dried out in the oven. The pomegranate relish is best prepared within a couple of hours before serving, then added shortly before presenting to your guests.