Spicy tops sweet
Bold, savory flavors kick up the heat in winter squash recipes
The first time I tasted a winter squash, naturally it was butternut. I was at a restaurant, and the menu item that intimidated me least was a ravioli filled with butternut squash and goat cheese. Not yet an adventurous eater, I had never tasted either.
The kind server explained that butternut squash tastes like sweet potatoes and goat cheese is like fancier cream cheese. As I recall, the sauce was primarily melted butter. There were also likely fried sage leaves on the scene. This was the ’90s. I declared these ravioli the best thing I’d ever eaten.
So you can imagine how excited I was a while later, when a friend and professional chef offered to make us squash and goat cheese ravioli for dinner one crisp autumn night. Things were going great: The filling had the rich, savory, balanced quality I remember from my introduction to squash at that restaurant. He substituted wonton wrappers for homemade pasta to form the ravioli, a shortcut I use to this day.
Unfortunately, it all went very wrong when he drizzled the sauce, a maple “gastrique,” all over the just-boiled ravioli. I tasted one and thought: Ruined. I could have melted a stick of butter to pour over these, and we would have had a better dinner.
It should be against the law to combine already plenty-sweet winter squash with apples, maple syrup, brown sugar, figs, honey or raisins. I’ve read many recipes for squash that call for more than one of these and then throw in cinnamon or another pumpkin pie spice, resulting in … dessert. These cloyingly sweet recipes work against everything that makes great cooking: Complexity, contrast, balance and depth.
Thai restaurants lit the way for me when it comes to cooking winter squash. Whenever I spy pumpkin or squash curry on a Thai menu, I order it. A chile-kicked, herbaceous, coconut-rich bath complements tender winter squash the way sticky-sweet ingredients cannot, making the vegetable robust and meaty.
After the disappointing, one-dimensional butternut squash soups I made by following typical recipes, I started to go the opposite way, always marrying coldweather squash with bold and spicy ingredients to offset their mellow sweetness and bring out their
savory side.
Nuts feature in all three of these surprising squash recipes for their mouth-filling richness. While there is something decadent about the melting texture of cooked winter squash, it needs a fair amount of fat to achieve its true potential.
DELICATA SQUASH NACHOS
4 servings FOR THE SAUCE 2 tablespoons canola oil ½ medium onion, thinly sliced ½ medium red bell pepper, seeded and cut into small dice (½ cup) 1 clove garlic, sliced 1 cup whole unsalted cashews ¾ cup water ½ cup nutritional yeast 4 pickled jalapeño slices and 2 tablespoons of their liquid, plus more slices for garnish 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 1 teaspoon sweet paprika ¼ teaspoon onion powder ½ teaspoon kosher salt Hot sauce (optional) FOR THE NACHOS 2 delicata squash (about 10 ounces each) (trimmed), halved, seeds removed, and cut into ½-inch thick slices 2 tablespoons canola oil Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper One 15-ounce can black beans, preferably no-salt-added, rinsed and drained
½ medium onion, cut into small dice (½ cup) ½ medium red bell pepper, seeded and cut into small dice (½ cup) 1 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ cup coarsely chopped cilantro 2 scallions, green parts only, thinly sliced 2 tablespoons roasted pumpkin seeds
For the sauce: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the onion, red pepper and garlic; cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring a few times, until softened. Scrape the mixture into a blender; add the cashews, water, nutritional yeast, pickled jalapeños and their liquid, apple cider vinegar, sweet paprika, onion powder and salt. Purée until smooth. Taste the sauce, adding hot sauce if desired. The yield is about 2 cups.
For the nachos: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Toss the squash with 1 tablespoon of the oil, then season lightly with salt and pepper. Arrange on the baking sheet (in serving groups of 4 or 5 slices is helpful), and roast (middle rack) for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, toss together the black beans, onion, red bell pepper and cumin with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a mixing bowl. Scatter this mixture over the squash after it has roasted, then return it to oven and roast for an additional 10 minutes, at which point the squash should be tender.
Use a large spatula to portion the nachos onto serving plates, then drizzle with nacho sauce. Top with cilantro, scallions and roasted pumpkin seeds. Serve right away.
PER SERVING: 430 calories; 21 g total fat; 3 g saturated fat; 0 mg cholesterol; 290 mg sodium; 47 g carbohydrates; 14 g dietary fiber; 6 g sugars; 17 g protein.