Although we normally associate acorn squash or butternut squash with savory Fall dishes, don’t underestimate it as a nice dessert alternative as well. Simply on its own roasted with maple syrup and ground cinnamon, cubes of either squash are a decadent and healthy way to end a meal.  Here, I roasted a diced acorn squash with maple syrup and cinnamon, and then used these tender cubes as a welcomed addition to a serving of creamy rice pudding.

This specific rice pudding recipe (hailing from www.MarthaStewart.com) is interesting for a couple of reasons.  First, it uses short-grained Arborio rice—the rice that is normally used for risotto.  This is a great rice to use for rice pudding because of its inherent starchiness.  Secondly, there are no eggs in this pudding recipe.  The thickness of the pudding comes solely from the rice’s starchy nature, milk, vanilla and sugar. Plain and simple, this unique pairing of a creamy rice pudding and sweetened cubes of acorn squash is decadent and filled with Fall flavors!

(To view this recipe, click on the blue title of the blog post above*)

Tagged: acorn squash, arborio rice, creamy dessert, custard, dessert, ground cinnamon, maple syrup, maple-glazed squash, pudding, rice pudding, roasted squash, squash, stirred custard, whole milk