By Emma Rehm

Yield: 5 servings

Ingredients:

5 small (1- to 2-pound) pumpkins or squash
5 shallots, thinly sliced
2-3 tablespoons butter or olive oil
3 apples, chopped (Rehm used Galas from Kistaco Farms)
3 ribs celery, chopped smaller than the apples
1 cup wild rice (or quinoa), cooked
Pinches of sage, rosemary, and marjoram
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Cut tops off of squash, wash, and scoop out the centers and stringy parts of squash. Replace tops, and bake at 350° on baking sheet for 35 minutes, until fork-tender.

2. Pan-fry shallots in butter, until soft and beginning to brown.

3. Pan-fry celery until dark green (so that it stays crunchy but isn’t raw after baking).

4. Mix celery, rice, apples, and shallots. Add herbs to taste. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Spoon stuffing into squash, and return tops.

6. Cover baking sheet with foil, and bake again for 15 minutes.