Anytime side or star of a holiday meal
We love winter squash prepared the familiarway: sprinkled with brownsugar and dotted with butter, then roasted until it’s tender and sweet. It’s comforting, but not all that inspiring.
For a savory take, and one thatwould produce a dish thatwould earn a spot on the table whether itwas a chillyweeknight or a Thanksgiving spread, we took inspiration fromLondon-based ChefYotam Ottolenghi. He slices the squash (skin and all) into thin half-moons to create more surface area for browning. And rather than addmore sweetness, he tosses the roasted squash with savory ingredients, which serve as a surprisingly successful foil to the squash’s natural sweetness.
Wewere smitten with this approach, butwe knewwewanted to put our own spin on it. Our firstmovewas to lose the skin. Our nextwas to findways to get ultimate caramelization on both sides of the squash slices. To do that, we placed the sheet on the lowest oven rack instead of in the middle. On the lowest rack, it absorbed even more heat fromthe main heating element on the oven’s floor. We then flipped the squash (and rotated the baking sheet) partway through roasting so that both sides could caramelize.
The other key to better browningwas the fatwe used. Instead of tossing the squash with olive oil, we used melted butter, whose milk proteins undergo the Maillard reaction. These slices emerged deeply caramelized, wonderfully sweet and tender.
Acombination of goat cheese, pecans and maple syrup made a perfect savory topping for our simple yet presentation-worthy side dish.