Too early for stuffing?
Never.
At least not in this house.
I must admit this was Mr. How Sweet’s idea. He loves stuffing. One of his favorite meals is a big “garbage” casserole: a dish filled with chicken, cream of chicken soup and Stove Top stuffing. The whole wheat Stove Top stuffing, because that somehow balances the cream of chicken soup calories. Obviously.
Okay, so it’s not just caramelized fruit.
There’s some caramelized butternut squash in there too.
And boy — was it delicious.
No added sugar needed to caramelize. I chopped apples, pears and squash into uniform cubes, then tossed them with sea salt and cinnamon.
After that, I let them do their thing on the stove until they browned and softened.
Are you ready for this?
Because this caramelized mixture might be my new favorite snack.
It’s actually quite pretty.
Just a quick glance evokes words like “harvest” and “autumn.”
I kept thinking of all the ways to use this caramelized fruit and squash — oatmeal, pancakes, quesadillas, omelets, even pizza.
This time we used Nature’s Pride whole wheat bread and made individual stuffing cups.
Mr. How Sweet insists the apple replaces the onion and the pear replaces the celery in traditional stuffing. The butternut squash? That’s an extra, delightful bonus.
A truly scrumptious bonus.
I should also mention the butter and brown sugar drizzle on top.
Totally necessary.
Caramelized Autumn Fruit Stuffing Cups
Serves 3
1/2 butternut squash, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 apple, chopped (I used Honeycrisp)
1 pear, chopped (I used Red Bartlett)
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
3 slices whole wheat bread
1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Heat a skillet over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon butter. When hot, add the squash, apples and pears, tossing with cinnamon and salt. Stir a few times to coat and combine, then let the mixture caramelize, stirring occasionally, for about 15–20 minutes.
While the fruit cooks, toast the bread if it isn’t already stale, then cut it into cubes the same size as the fruit.
When the fruit is nicely caramelized, combine it with the bread cubes in a bowl and mix well.
Spoon the stuffing evenly into three ramekins. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and stir in the brown sugar. Spoon this mixture over each ramekin’s stuffing and bake for 15–20 minutes, until warmed through and slightly crisp on top.
I’m officially ready for fall and all the things that come with it — pumpkin pie, pecan pie, apple pie, caramel apples and more.
And apparently a slightly larger pants size, too.