When I saw this recipe online, I immediately bookmarked it. I have yet to see something like this in all my years. I mean, I’ve made a hasselback potatoes before, which I’ve posted here and here, but never an entire butternut squash. Pretty cool, isn’t it?
The Recipe
There’s a trick that needs to be taken advantage of with anything hasselback. Since the technique of making thin slices along the entire length is usually attributed to vegetables such as potatoes and squash, it’s important to make sure those vegetables are seasoned properly. By their very nature, these types of foods are flavor sinks, meaning, they need a fair amount of seasoning to enhance their natural flavors. In the case of using the hasselback style, seasoning only the surface isn’t sufficient. You’ll need to season in between each slice of the vegetable. The result will be outstanding and well worth the effort.
With this particular side dish, the star is truly the glaze. It includes pure maple syrup, pecans, ground ginger, butter and crushed red pepper. It’s outstanding. The squash is roasted and then the glaze is spooned over the result. You really end up with something that is rather awesome.
Ingredients
Serves: 6
1 Large Butternut Squash, Trimmed, Peeled, Halved and Seeded
1 Tablespoon Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Salt
Ground Black Pepper
2 Tablespoons Butter
1/4 Cup Pure Maple Syrup
1/4 Cup Chopped Pecans
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
1/4 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
Step-by-Step Instructions
I’d like to thank Southern Cast Iron for this recipe. I’ve used this website before and all I have to say is that it’s awesome. They really know how to pull the flavors out of ingredients, that’s for sure.
Pre-Heat the Oven
Arrange your oven racks so one of them is in the center position. Then, pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.
Roast the Squash
Add the olive oil to a 12-inch cast iron skillet. Then, place the prepped squash cut side down in the skillet. Using the oil in the pan, brush it over the surface of the squash. Then, sprinkle a few pinches of salt and pepper over the squash as well.
Place the skillet in the oven for 30 minutes.
Slice the Squash
After the 30 minutes, remove the pan from the oven, but leave the heat on. Remove each half of squash from the skillet and place them on a large cutting board. Place a wooden spoon on each side of each half of squash and make 1/4 inch slices along their entire lengths. These slices shouldn’t be made completely through, hence the wooden spoons to block that from occurring. When finished, place each half back into the skillet.
After this, place the pan back into the oven for 10 more minutes.
Prepare the Glaze
Warm a medium sized saucepan over medium heat on your stove top. Add the butter, maple syrup, pecans, ginger, red pepper flakes, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper to it. Warm the ingredients until the liquid in the pot begins to boil and when it does, turn off the heat.
Add Glaze to Squash & Roast
After the 10 minutes has passed, remove the skillet from the oven once again. This time, you can leave the squash in the pan. Using your fingers, fan open each slice of squash and sprinkle some salt and pepper in between the pieces. You don’t have to add much here, just enough to flavor things up a bit. After that, spoon the glaze over both halves until it covers everything and there are no more dry spots on the squash.
When you’re finished, place the skillet in the oven for 10 more minutes.
Plate & Serve
After the 10 minutes has passed, remove the skillet from the oven and turn off the heat. Divide the squash between plates and enjoy!
The Final Hasselback Butternut Squash
By adding the salt to the glaze and in between the slices, the flavor of this dish is enhanced considerably. You’ll love the glaze as well as this cooking technique, so if you do give this a try, please let me know what you think about it down in the comment section below. Thanks for reading!
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