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Stuffed Acorn Squash with Wheat Berries & Herbs

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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 2
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Ingredients

Squash

  • 1 acorn squash
  • 2 cloves garlic, lightly smashed
  • sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Wheat Berry Stuffing

  • ½ cup wheat berries, soaked for at least 2 hours
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 medium shallots, small dice
  • 1 stick celery, small dice
  • 1 medium carrot, peeled and small dice
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 3 sprigs thyme, leaves chopped up fine
  • 1 sprig sage, leaves chopped up fine
  • ¼ cup dry white wine
  • ¾ cup vegetable stock
  • ⅓ cup dried sour cherries, chopped up roughly
  • sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
  • 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
  • 3 sprigs flat leaf parsley, leaves chopped

Instructions

  • Cook the squash: preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. season the inside with salt and pepper. Place the smashed garlic cloves on a parchment lined baking sheet with a good amount of space in between. Put the seasoned squash halves over the garlic cloves so that the squash form upside down bowls over the garlic cloves. Place in the oven and cook until tender, about 30 minutes. Once cool enough to handle, scrape a bit of the cooked squash flesh out. It should amount to about a 1/4 cup. Set it all aside.
  • Start the grains once the squash is in the oven: drain the wheat berries and place them in a small sauce pan with 1 cup of water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then lower to medium. Simmer for about 40 minutes or until they are still a bit chewy (they will absorb more liquid later when making the stuffing). Drain if necessary.
  • Make the stuffing: heat the oil over medium and add the shallots. Cook until they begin to soften (4 minutes), add carrots, celery and the bay leaf. When the carrots and celery have softened up a teeny bit (about 4-5 minutes), add ground coriander, thyme, sage and dried cherries. Add the splash of white wine and stir the mixture around, scraping any bits off the bottom.
  • Add the drained wheat berries to the saute pan and stir to coat them in the mixture. Add the vegetable stock and simmer until most of the liquid is evaporated. Add the squash flesh you scraped out earlier and stir it around, incorporating it into the mixture (this will act like glue for the stuffing). Add the parsley and pine nuts, reserving a bit of both to garnish with at the end. Take off the heat.

Recipe Notes

  • If you don't use alcohol in your cooking, you can just add a teaspoon of white wine vinegar or lemon juice to the wheat berry mixture at the end.
Stuffed squash with wheat berries and herbs is a hearty and classic plant-based holiday main. Perfect for Thanksgiving or the Winter holidays.