Oven-roasted butternut
In autumn, there’s nothing like a delicious Hasselback oven-roasted butternut squash to accompany your dishes. Its soft, tender, and slightly sweet flesh makes it an easy-to-prepare vegetable, perfect for enhancing your seasonal recipes. You can serve it as a side dish with your favorite meals: in a salad, with grilled meat, fish, and it will perfectly complement your Thanksgiving Turkey, for example. It can also make an excellent vegetarian main course, possibly topped with cheese, thanks to its tender texture and even cooking.
Butternut squash, also known as musk squash or peanut squash, is part of the large squash family, which is very abundant in autumn and winter. The Hasselback cooking method, inspired by Hasselback potatoes created in 1953 by Swedish chef Leif Elisson in Stockholm, involves cutting thin slices into the vegetable without going all the way through, leaving the strips attached at the base. This technique allows condiments and seasonings to better permeate the vegetable and makes the dish visually appealing.
Versatile, butternut squash also lends itself to many other preparations: soups, veloutés, salads, or even desserts. For the holidays, you can use it in a butternut and goat cheese crumble, with a hazelnut crumble, for a gourmet and comforting side dish.
Butternut squash, oven-roasted hasselback style
Table of Contents
How to Easily Cut Butternut Squash Hasselback Style?
I usually slice the butternut squash before baking it, but you’ll need a very sharp knife because the raw skin is quite tough. For easier preparation, I recommend the following method:
Peel the butternut squash and cut it in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds with a tablespoon.
Place the halves on a baking sheet and pre-bake them for about 15 minutes in the oven at 180°C (350°F). This step softens the flesh and makes slicing much easier.
Remove the butternut squash from the oven. Using a sharp knife, cut thin slices without going all the way through.
To make this step easier, place two skewers or wooden spoons on each side of the squash: they will stop the knife from cutting all the way down.
What size butternut squash to choose?
If I draw your attention to this point, it’s because there are very large butternut squashes, and those are not the ones I recommend. Instead, choose smaller ones, so that one squash serves two people.
Even when I’m hosting 4 or 8 guests, I always go for one butternut squash per two people. It’s much more appealing to serve these individual halves in a serving dish than to cut a large squash into slices.
This way, everyone can enjoy their own half directly on their plate, paired with a portion of roasted meat or fish.
Ingredients:
- 1 medium-sized butternut squash
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Aromatic herbs of your choice (garlic and fine herbs, persillade, chives, parsley, Espelette pepper, etc.)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
How to prepare oven-roasted butternut squash?
Preheat the oven to 180 °C (356 °F).
Peel the butternut squash using a peeler or a sharp knife. Cut it in half lengthwise, then remove the seeds with a spoon.
Place the squash halves on a cutting board, flesh side up. Position two chopsticks on each side to guide your slicing.
Cut thin slices into the butternut, without going all the way through. The chopsticks will prevent the knife from cutting completely.
Arrange the squash halves on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or in a large, lightly oiled dish.
In a bowl, mix the aromatic herbs with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a pinch of Espelette pepper.
Brush the squash generously with the mixture, making sure it seeps between the slices.
Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the flesh is tender. Check by piercing with a skewer, it should slide in easily.
If the herbs begin to brown too quickly, cover the dish with parchment paper.
Once baked, transfer the squash to a serving dish, drizzle with a little olive oil, and sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley. Serve immediately.
Hasselback Butternut Squash Recipe
INGREDIENTS
- 1 medium-sized butternut squash
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Aromatic herbs of your choice garlic and fine herbs, persillade, chives, parsley, Espelette pepper, etc.
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
PREPARATION
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C (356 °F).
- Peel the butternut squash using a peeler or a sharp knife. Cut it in half lengthwise, then remove the seeds with a spoon.
- Place the squash halves on a cutting board, flesh side up. Position two chopsticks on each side to guide your slicing.
- Cut thin slices into the butternut, without going all the way through. The chopsticks will prevent the knife from cutting completely.
- Arrange the squash halves on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or in a large, lightly oiled dish.
- In a bowl, mix the aromatic herbs with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a pinch of Espelette pepper.
- Brush the squash generously with the mixture, making sure it seeps between the slices.
- Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the flesh is tender. Check by piercing with a skewer, it should slide in easily.
- If the herbs begin to brown too quickly, cover the dish with parchment paper.
- Once baked, transfer the squash to a serving dish, drizzle with a little olive oil, and sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley. Serve immediately.
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