Cook this: Renee Kohlman’s roasted acorn squash with maple goat cheese and pecans

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Our cookbook of the week is Vegetables: A Love Story by Renée Kohlman, skilled prepare dinner and baker, and creator of the weblog Sweetsugarbean. Tomorrow, we’ll characteristic an interview with the writer.

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To strive one other recipe from the e-book, take a look at: Shaved brussels sprouts salad with crispy chickpeas, and Mom’s cabbage rolls.

Renée Kohlman emphasizes acorn squash’s pure sweetness on this autumnal facet dish. She rubs the halved squash with butter, scatters over brown sugar, fills with maple goat cheese and tops with toasted pecans for textural distinction.

“My mother’s like, ‘That is nearly like dessert,’” says Kohlman, laughing. “So for these of us who’ve a candy tooth, it’s an excellent little vegetable facet for certain.”

Having fun with acorn squash is a good way to embrace fall, however the gourd can be full of vitamins: One cup (205 g) of cooked squash incorporates 37 per cent of your really useful every day worth of vitamin C, 26 per cent of a day’s value of potassium, 9 grams of fibre, and beneficiant quantities of different vitamins, together with folate, magnesium and vitamin B.

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“It’s a must to eat them after they’re in season,” says Kohlman. “And so they’re so wholesome for you, too. Squash is loaded with all types of nutritional vitamins and minerals.”

As an added bonus, this dish is pretty easy to make and could be equally at residence alongside a Thanksgiving turkey as it might a part of a vegetarian feast.

Each time Kohlman serves her roasted acorn squash to company, it’s at all times successful. “It’s visually gorgeous,” she provides. “It’s a extremely good mixture of flavours, and it’s so nice for fall and appears pretty on a plate.”

ROASTED ACORN SQUASH WITH MAPLE GOAT CHEESE AND PECANS

2 small (every about 1 1/4 lb/565 g) acorn squash, scrubbed
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt, plus extra to style
Pepper
1 package deal (5 oz/140 g) goat cheese, softened
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/3 cup pecan halves
Contemporary thyme leaves, for garnish (elective)

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Step 1

Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).

Step 2

Lower every squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out and discard the seeds. Fastidiously trim about 1/8 inch off the underside of every half so every squash will sit flat, cut-side up, in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet or on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Utilizing a pointy knife, rating the flesh of every squash. Rub with the butter, sprinkle with the sugar, and generously season with salt and pepper.

Step 3

Bake the squash till tender, about 45–55 minutes, relying on their thickness. Utilizing a pastry brush, baste every half on the 30-minute mark with the brown sugar butter juice that may pool in the midst of every squash. When the squash halves are roasted and tender, allow them to cool within the pan for 10 minutes.

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Step 4

In a medium bowl, beat collectively the goat cheese, maple syrup and the 1/4 tsp salt.

Step 5

Place the nuts in a small bowl. Take away the brown sugar syrup from every squash half (a 1/4 cup measure works effectively for this) and pour it over the pecans, tossing to coat.

Step 6

Fill every squash half with a few of the maple goat cheese. High with the pecans, leaving the brown sugar syrup within the bowl. Return the squash to the oven and roast till the pecans are toasted, one other 7–8 minutes. Take away from the oven and drizzle the remaining brown sugar syrup from the bowl over every squash half. Garnish with contemporary thyme leaves, if desired.

Serves: 4

Notice: For even cooking, be certain the squash are of an identical measurement.

Recipe and picture by Renée Kohlman, from Vegetables: A Love Story, copyright 2021 by Renée Kohlman. Reprinted with permission of TouchWood Editions.