Stuffed squash

There was a terrific recipe in Hannaford's Fresh magazine for Acorn Squash with Double Mushroom Stuffing that we just had to try.  It was very very tasty just as they presented it, but it got me to thinking about what other stuffings might be good with squash.  We love acorn, buttercup, butternut...basically all the hard-skinned squashes.  But not everyone in the family is crazy about mushrooms, so I decided to come up with another squash-stuffing mixture that they would like.

Butternut Squash with Orzo Stuffing

2 butternut squash, cut in half and seeded
Cooking spray
2 slices of bacon
Bacon grease or 2 T olive oil
Onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Red pepper, chopped
2 t fresh thyme
1 c orzo pasta
1 1/2 c vegetable or chicken broth
Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Bake the squash at 400, face down in an inch of water for about 45 minutes to an hour.  Fry bacon in a nonstick skillet until crisp.  Remove and set aside.  Save some of the grease or replace it with olive oil and cook the vegetables and thyme until softened.  Add pasta, and broth, cooking until pasta is soft and the broth has been absorbed or boiled down.  Add crumbled bacon just before stuffing the squash, and garnish with Parmesan cheese.