This delicious dish was a big hit at our harvest dinner on the farm. Thanks to Jimmy’s CSA member Daniel Miron for sharing it!
2 butternut squash, baked per below
1 med. onion, caramelized per below
juice and zest of one small orange
4 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
salt and pepper to taste (don’t be shy)
2-4 tbsp. brown sugar
Additional butter
Cut squash in half through stem end, scoop out seeds, place cut side down in baking pan with 1/2″ water. Bake at 375 for 45-75 minutes, depending on size, ’til tender. If pan dries out, add a little more water. A good test: if you can press an indentation into the the rind (center of non-cavity area) with minimal effort, it’s done. Until you’re comfortable with this method, flip and test for tenderness with fork. Allow to cool enough to handle.
Peel and thinly slice onion. Saute gently in 1 T. butter or olive oil with a few shakes of salt. Try to reach golden-brown without drying them out or crisping them; you may add 1 T. water or stock if necessary. This is ideally a slow process, perhaps half an hour–if you don’t mind checking frequently, you could do it in the oven while the squash is baking, rather than on the stovetop.
To get a good puree, the squash should be scooped from shells, and done in small batches, perhaps 6, with a small amount of the butter, orange, thyme, salt and pepper in each batch. Don’t worry about exact proportions–as long as there’s some butter, onion and flavorings in each batch, you’re fine. Puree with a food processor’s metal blade. For a coarser texture, the plastic blade or an immersion blender can be used. For a very smooth feel, you can add a splash of broth, milk, or milk substitute to each batch.
To save dishes, you can place each batch in a square pan (which has been lightly oiled or buttered to decrease sticking) as you finish it–they needn’t be further mixed together. Pat the squash into the pan firmly, and spread a VERY thin coating of butter over it, or just place little pats strategically. Top with a little more salt, pepper, and thyme, and sprinkle with brown sugar.
At this point, you can immediately bake, set aside for a goodly part of a day, or refrigerate overnight if necessary. The final baking will depend on your starting temp. Half an hour at 325-350 should be enough to heat through, but check for hotness, especially if it was refrigerated. Finish with 10 min. at 400-425 to crisp the top a little. You may even want to broil for a couple minutes, instead.
This is how we had it a Jan & Michael’s, but it’s very flexible. Any type of winter squash will work, though initial baking times will differ. Finely chopped rosemary, sage, marjoram or other herbs may be used instead of or in addition to the thyme, or cinnamon, nutmeg or crushed coriander (be more sparing with these concentrated flavors). To be a little more healthful, all butter can be replaced with olive oil. For those who prefer less processed sweeteners, 1/4 c. honey can be blended in rather than topping it with brown sugar. It can be mixed with a couple beaten eggs, and used to fill two or three pie-shells. I’m about to make a batch, thin it with broth, dispense with the topping, and pipe it onto pastry puff rounds as an appetizer. BUT, still, I most often simply bake the squash, flip it over, fill the cavities with all the flavorings, return to oven for 10 minutes, and scoop right onto a plate. That works best with acorn squash, due to the large, centered cavity.
