Acorn Squash Stuffed With Corn Custard

By RosieHawthorne

A comforting dish for a cool fall day. Sweet winter squash and the luscious texture of custard. It's like a quiche with fleshy acorn squash for the pie crust.

Ingredients

• For the custard:
• 1 acorn squash, sliced in half and cleaned
• melted butter
• 1 egg
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup corn
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 scallions, sliced
• freshly ground salt and pepper
• freshly grated nutmeg
• cheddar cheese and Parmesan cheese, grated

Preparation

Step 1

Prepare the acorn squash:
Cut in half. Slice a small piece off the bottom so the halves will sit evenly and not tip over.
Scrape the seeds and fibers out of the squash. Place the squash in a baking dish and pour water halfway up the side.

Brush the flesh with melted butter.
Place the squash in a preheated 375 degree oven and bake until just barely tender. This will depend on the size of your squash. I checked at 40 minutes and it wasn't even tender. At 60 minutes it was just barely tender. You don't want it mushy since it's going to be cooked more.

At 60 minutes, I took the squash out
and added the corn pudding filling.

Corn Pudding:
Beat the whole egg. Gradually whisk in the milk and cream. Stir in corn.
Whisk whites until they're foamy, not stiff. Gently stir whites into egg and milk mixture. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg, and scallions.
Fill acorn halves 3/4 way full. If you have any extra filling, pour into a ramekin.
Put squash back into oven and bake until custard is set.
I checked at 30 minutes and the custard was still jiggly. I checked again at 50 minutes and it was almost ready. I added the grated cheese on top and baked 10 more minutes until the cheese was melted and nicely browned.