Anyhoo, besides celebrating the start of my final year in my 30's, today also kicks off another edition of the 12 Weeks of Winter Squash! If you're not familiar with it, well...it's exactly what it sounds like. For the next 12 weeks, I'll be featuring at least one winter squash recipe every week. This will be my third year joining my friend Joanne of Eats Well With Others in celebrating the versatile winter squash (though she's been doing it for even longer than that).
So, every Monday for the forseeable future, you can pretty much count on a recipe featuring some sort of winter squash. I'm starting today with what I like to call a gateway variety of winter squash—Butternut. I mean, a Butternut squash isn't too scary, right? I mean, you can even eat the peel (though I only recommend it if it's roasted). It's fairly simple to cut when compared to some other varieties—pumpkin, I'm talking to you!
What are you favorite ways to cook (or bake) with winter squash? If you're a blogger, we'd love to have you join us in our weekly endeavors, just read more below. If you're not a blogger, please feel free to leave recipes or links to recipes you love in the comments section on any 12 Weeks of Winter Squash post this season!
Sesame and Chile Roasted Butternut Squash
Butternut squash sliced into moons, tossed with butter, orange juice, garlic, chiles, and sesame seeds, then roasted until tender.
by
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Keywords: roast side vegetarian squash sesame seeds chiles fall winter
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
- juice of 1 orange
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 pounds butternut squash, scrubbed, halved lengthwise, and seeded, then cut into 1/2" moons
- 2 Pasilla chiles (dried), stemmed, seeded and cut into 2" pieces (or another dried Mexican chile like Ancho or Guajillo)
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed into a paste
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400° F. Line a baking sheet with foil.
Whisk the butter, orange juice, sugar, and apple cider vinegar in a medium bowl. Add everything else except the sesame seeds, and toss to coat.
Spread the squash mixture out on the prepared baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds (turn to coat).
Roast until the squash is tender and caramelized in spots, flipping halfway through, ~40 minutes total.
-ever-so-slightly adapted from Food Network Magazine, November 2014
