Who says squash has to be sliced or diced into strips or boring cubes? Roasted squash tastes perfectly delicious when sliced thin and formed into a beautiful blossom for your table. In fact, it might even taste better because it looks so pretty. Besides, who doesn’t like to see flowers on the table?
Recently, I came into a ginormous box of squash (insert weird comment here). It turns out, I won an impromptu contest by using my menial Photoshopping skills combined with some unusual vegetables. Melissa’s Produce decided to reward my goofiness with various types of winter squash…hence this recipe.
I’m a big fan of roasted vegetables, as you well know, and squash is one of the most perfect vegetables for that high heat oven. In fact, that’s pretty much how everyone cooks them considering that most squash varieties are hard as rocks and a little too big to simply drop in a pot and steam. Am I right? What else is there besides roasted squash?
You’re probably pretty familiar with butternut squash or the increasingly popular kobacha squash, but you may not be as familiar with delicata squash. These squash still have a thick skin, like most squash, but when roasted…you can actually eat the delicata’s skin without feeling like you’re gnawing bark off a tree. It’s actually quite good. So…since you can eat the skin, you’ve got less prep work to do (no peeling required). Delicata squash is also a bit easier to handle than some other winter squashes. It’s long and narrow-ish and not quite as hard to cut through. Again, this makes preparing it a lot easier. Delicata squash isn’t quite as sweet as butternut or acorn squash so it lends itself to all kinds of seasonings (which makes it pretty versatile). This is a good thing when you’re trying to figure out what flavors to pair with your main course.
If you’ve got kids who don’t like to eat vegetables (this goes for those picky adults too), making food into fun shapes and designs seems to take the edge off eating those not so favorite foods. This squash blossom would also be gorgeous on your Thanksgiving table. Just imagine walking into your family dinner and plopping this beautiful dish on the table (no one has to know how easy it is to make). As far as vegetable side dishes are concerned, this one tastes as good as it looks too. I promise there won’t be any leftovers.
This really is an easy recipe and it doesn’t take forever to put together either. Another plus is that you can make this squash blossom as big or as small as you like. For a big group you can make one big one (I’d use a large oven safe skillet or quiche pan) or make 2 – 3 smaller one’s to place in various spots on the table. If you don’t want to make one large one, you could also make individual blossoms in ramekins. It’s up to you. I made this one in an 8″ round baker I had. I was going to use my quiche pan, but it was a lot bigger than what I needed for the two of us.
Oh, while I highly recommend you try this with the delicata squash (aren’t those colors pretty?) You can also make other kinds of roasted vegetable blossoms. Just make sure that you can eat the skins on whichever vegetables you choose to use.
Thanksgiving Recipes - Roasted Squash Blossom
Roasted squash won't be a boring side dish on your table anymore. This pretty roasted squash blossom takes Delicata squash to sweet and savory heights.
Author: Pamela Braun
Recipe type: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 2 Medium Onions (sliced thin)
- ¼ Cup Olive Oil (divided)
- 2 Delicata Squash
- 2 Large Cloves Garlic (grated)
- ½ Teaspoon Dried Thyme
- Kosher Salt
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- Maple Sugar
Instructions
- Heat half of the olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat.
- Once oil is hot, add onions.
- Cook onions until they are slightly browned and softened. Stir occasionally. This should take about 8-10 minutes. If they are browning too fast, reduce the heat and add a tablespoon of water. You want the onions soft.
- Remove onions from heat when done.
- While onions are cooking, cut the squash in half (lengthwise) and remove the seeds.
- Trim the squash ends and slice into thin half moons (about ⅛" thick).
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.
- Spoon onions into 8" oven proof pan and spread evenly.
- Top onions with sliced Delicata squash pieces. Begin arranging slices skin side up along the outside edge of the pan. Overlap the slices and continue arranging them in circles until you get to the middle and there is no more room to add any more.
- Pour remaining olive oil into a small dish and add the garlic, thyme, salt and black pepper. Whisk to combine.
- Brush the herbed oil mixture over top of the squash slices and make sure to coat the surfaces well.
- Lightly sprinkle the top of the dish with maple sugar.
- Slide into the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until squash slices have softened to your desired consistency.
- Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving.
Notes
This recipe is best suited for an 8" round pan. If you use a larger size pan, you will need more ingredients. Also not: maple sugar is not the same as maple syrup. If you can't find maple sugar, you could very lightly sprinkle the top with brown sugar - very lightly though.
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