Posts Tagged ‘Brown Sugar’
We’ve been on sort of a squash ‘bender’ recently since they’re in season. And, as the weather turns colder we tend to start craving the warmth of comfort foods. Squash is great no matter how you cook it: roasted, cubed and sauteed, in soup, as a rich mash instead of potatoes, the list goes on.
This is squash exactly like our folks used to make when we were kids. With the addition of Butter and Brown Sugar to complement the caramelized roasty bits it’s so good it could practically be dessert. Not only that, but the scent that fills our house while it’s roasting is heavenly…
We’re deep into the Autumn-oriented fare these days, which is one of the benefits of community supported agriculture: we get all the freshest produce when it’s in season and we don’t have to wait for it to get shipped across the country (or ocean, for that matter) to get to us.
The recipe is pretty easy:
- 1 Acorn Squash, cut in half with seeds and innards removed. It also helps if you cut off a bit of the bottom of each squash half to make a flat spot, less rolling around in the roasting pan that way…
- 4 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, divided (always use unsalted butter for cooking, you can add salt later if you need to)
- 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar, divided
- Olive Oil
- Salt & Pepper
How to cook them:
- Preheat the oven to 350°
- Pour about 1/4 inch of water into a deep baking dish
- Rub a little Olive Oil on the flat top part of each squash half
- Put 2 Tbsp of Butter and 1 Tbsp of Brown Sugar in each half
- Sprinkle it all with Salt & Pepper
- Roast until a fork slides in very easily, about 30 minutes or so
To Serve:
To us, one squash is pretty much two servings…though they’re pretty big servings. If you’d like you can pour out the melted brown sugar and butter into a dish, cut each half into slices (quarters maybe?) and then drizzle the brown sugar/butter mixture over the top.
We like to put each half in a bowl to keep them from sliding around. Then we mash up the buttery, brown sugary, squashy goodness inside the rind with fork and eat it right out of the shell. It makes a terrific side dish to accompany any kind of roasted meat, or a great veggie main course.