Cooking: Acorn Squash Stuffed with Sausage, Spinach, and Gruyere Cheese

2 acorn squash, ½ onion, 1½ cups almonds (or bread crumbs),
1 pound sage-flavored pork sausage, 4 cups spinach,
¼ cup sherry, 1 cup shredded Gruyere (or swiss) cheese,
olive oil, spinach, salt

Slice each squash in half horizontally; scoop out the seeds. Cut a thin slice off the bottom of each half to allow the squash to sit flat.

Drizzle squash flesh with oil; sprinkle with salt. Place squash halfs on a baking sheet, flesh side down.

Roast squash in a  425° oven 15 minutes. Flip squash and roast 10 minutes more. Remove squash from oven.

If using almonds, put them in a food processor until they have turned almost into a powder:

Heat 1 T olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add sausage to skillet. Brown sausage about 8-10 minutes. Add onion to sausage in skillet; cook until onion is translucent, about 3 minutes.

Deglaze skillet with sherry; simmer mixture until most of the liquid is evaporated, 2-3 minutes. Add spinach to skillet; stir and toss until spinach leaves are wilted, 2-3 minutes.

Remove skillet from heat; stir in almonds (or bread crumbs) and ¾ cup of the Gruyere.

Scoop 1 cup of the sausage mixture into each squash half. Sprinkle remaining Gruyere over sausage mixture.

Return stuffed squash to the baking sheet. Heat broiler to high and place an over rack 2 inches below broiler. Place squash under the broiler until Gruyere melts, 2-3 minutes.

Drizzle with balsamic vinegar before serving.

And don't forgot about the squash seeds! Make some Roasted Squash Seeds.