A couple weeks ago, while prepping my wares (and foodstuffs, too) to teach a cooking class at the very lovely Hotel Providence (with an incredibly fun group of students and the amazing ladies of Hotel Providence, Trish and Sarah, assisting), I realized that I needed to gather some ingredients for our day-of-class lunch salad.

Being squash-obsessive as I am, there was plenty of butternut squash stashed in the pantry, so I peeled one, sliced it thinly, drizzled it with olive oil, coated it in honey, and added a little crushed red pepper and fresh thyme to the mix.

On the day of the class, the squash was such a hit both with and without the greens that I should have doubled the recipe (this is a warning, please heed it if you and yours also love squash).

I’ve made this no fewer than four times in the last week (I did say we had plenty of butternut squash on hand, you’ll remember), have eaten it as a side dish, and with greens, goat cheese, dried cranberries, and walnuts in a salad. I have also eaten it as a snack before dinner, and might have had a slice after coffee the other morning.

And no, I am not sick of it. Much to the contrary, my friend. Much to the contrary.

In fact, I feel compelled to make this for our Thanksgiving turkey-in-a-hole-in-the-ground feast – a feast for which (sidenote alert, in the event that the dash after “feast” and before “a” didn’t give it away) JR and I raised the turkey, all 36 pounds of him. We’re a little proud of this, as he is a beauty. The owner of the slaughter facility even made a point of telling us both what a nice looking turkey we had raised after it was dressed out, fueling the flames of our homesteader geek-pride. End sidenote.

Annnnnd…back to the butternut. Let’s make it, shall we? The solid pieces of squash from its neck are easier to cut thin, so be sure to look for a squash with a long neck to make your butternut slicing life less taxing.

Once you have a long-necked squash, cut the neck crosswise into smaller sections, then cut those sections in half lengthwise, so that you have half-round chunks of butternut squash. This will make the slicing safer, as you’ll have a flat side of the squash to place securely down on your cutting board.

oooooh – sparkly.

Print

Sweet and Spicy Candied Butternut Squash

Yield: Serves 4 to 6 (2 to 3 if your peeps go crazy for it, which might undermine the value aspect, but, heck, it is a holiday, after all)

Ingredients

• (1) 3- to 4-pound squash with a long neck. Peel the bad boy, scoop out the seeds, follow the tips above about divvying up the neck, then slice the squash crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces.
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 4 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two 9- by 13-inch rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, toss the squash, olive oil, honey, thyme, and crushed red pepper flakes together. Pour the squash onto the baking sheets so that they are in a single layer. Season the squash with pepper.
3. Roast until the squash cooked through and is easily pierced with a fork, and is just starting to brown at the edges, 40 to 45 minutes, turning the squash over 20 minutes into the cooking time.
4. Toward the end of the cooking time (35 minutes into it, or so), peek in on the squash to be sure that the pieces closest to the edge of the pan aren't over-browning. Thin slices and those at the edges can cross the line from candied to burnt and blackened, a la overcooked campfire marshmallows, quickly at the end of the cooking time, so if some slices appear to be significantly darker than other slices, move them to the middle of the pan or remove those darker slices from the oven.
5. Serve the butternut squash forth, either as a side dish, or as an addictive salad topping.

3.0

http://www.tinyfarmhouse.com/2011/11/sweet-and-spicy-candied-butternut-squash/

Estimated cost for candied butternut squash: $6.84, or $1.71 per serving for 4 people, $1.14 for six people. The butternut squash costs 79-cents per pound, so 4 pounds is $3.16. The olive oil is your everyday cooking olive oil, so that should cost no more than 12-cents per tablespoon, 24-cents for this dish. It would be great if the honey used was local honey, and at around $8.00 for 16-ounces, with 1.375 tablespoons per ounce, 4 tablespoons will cost us $2.75. If using supermarket brands, the cost will be around half of that, so $1.38. We’ll use the higher cost for the tally, just to be on the safe side. The crushed red pepper flakes should cost around 3-cents, though if you like a little more heat, you could increase the measurement to 1/4 teaspoon for 6-cents. It would be great if you had bought a thyme plant and grew it in a pot that you’re now keeping indoors, as the $4.00 for the plant at the beginning of the season would have more than paid off by now, but if not, you’ll be using no more than a quarter of a package of fresh thyme that costs $2.49, or 63-cents.