Name: Stuffed Acorn Squash
Ingredients: 2 acorn squash, halved and seeded; 1/2 pound bulk pork sausage; 2 cups cooked white or brown rice (cooked in chicken broth); 1 tart red cooking apple, cored and chopped; 1/2 cup chopped onion; 1/2 cup sliced celery; 1/4 cup seedless raisins; 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper; 2 tablespoons maple syrup; 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine; 2 eggs, beaten; 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese; 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese; 2 cups grated Cheddar cheese, divided

Why it works: Raisin and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,390 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,390 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,598 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
Rice + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,137 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Celery + cinnamontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,009 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,518 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Acorn squash: Forms the edible shell that holds the filling and softens as it bakes.
Bulk pork sausage: Adds fat and savory meaty flavor that browns and seasons the stuffing.
Cooked rice: Bulks out the filling and absorbs flavor from the broth and fat.
Eggs: Bind the cottage cheese and cheese mixture so it sets rather than runs.
Cottage cheese: Adds moisture and creamy body to the filling.
Maple syrup: Adds sweetness and caramel notes that brown the stuffing edges.

The step that matters

Cover and bake 45 to 50 minutes. Covering traps steam so the squash cooks through and turns tender while the filling heats. Uncovered baking would dry the filling and leave the squash firm, so keep the lid on for the full time.

Swap the acorn

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, rice, apple, onion, celery, raisin, cinnamon):

Chestnutfits better
Beansfits better
Almondfits better
Acornthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, rice, apple, onion, celery, raisin, cinnamon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pork	100g cooked	242
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Cottage Cheese	1/2 cup (113g) 2%	98
Apple	1 medium (182g)	95
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Maple Syrup	1 tbsp (20ml)	52
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Pumpkin	not in our table	0

Stuffed Acorn Squash