The BEST part of harvest season
Being a reformed carb-phobe, I’ve recently rekindled my unabashed love with winter squash. Delicata squash, in particular. I’m utterly smitten with its creamy texture and mild, sweet potato-like taste and the fact that I don’t have to peel it. It’s thin, delicate skin becomes nearly indistinguishable from it’s flesh once roasted which is great for those of us with squash skin-hating kids and spouses (you know, the ones that painstakingly pick every. single. bit of skin off the squash before they dare take a bite). I seriously can’t get enough of this magic squash. It’s so easy to prepare. Just trim the ends off, slice it lengthwise from top to bottom, scoop out the seeds then slice it into thin ‘half moon’ shapes before roasting, steaming or sauteeing. Unlike a butternut squash, there’s relatively little risk of chopping off a finger or missing your cut and sending the squash flying off the counter as you may have done with an oddly shaped acorn squash. As you can see, I’m a bit biased when it comes to delicata squash (but truly, I do love them all). Which is why I’m really excited to share this Roasted Delicata Squash with Tomatoes recipe with you right now. This recipe was born from a ‘happy kitchen accident’ a few years ago when I was trying to use up as much of the garden harvest as I could to avoid having to can/blanch/ferment/dehydrate one more thing because I was so over preserving the harvest with an infant on my hip and a toddler under my feet at the time. Who knew tossing a handful of rogue cherry tomatoes onto a pan of delicata squash and shallots then tossing with with a little ghee and bacon grease would yield such a life-altering dish?
Well, it did. And since that day I’ve been head over heels for this Roasted Delicata Squash and Tomatoes. It shows up on the menu almost weekly once squash start arriving at the market. Since delicata squash is, well, more delicate that other winter squashes you won’t see it in stores or markets much past January or February making it even more special and worthy of almost overdoing when it is available.
From day one with this happy little kitchen accident I’ve used shallots in the recipe because I love their subtle onion-garlic flavor – but you can use red onion if that’s what you’ve got available or on hand. I’ve intentionally left any minced garlic out of the dish because with the longer roasting time it burns to a crisp which is why I like shallots. They’re kind of like an aromatic 2-for-1.
You can also (or additionally!) use a garlic-flavored ghee like this one from Pure Indian Foods. It has become one of my favorite fats for roasting and sauteeing and for adding to cooked vegetables before serving. I also love taking it camping because it just makes all the camp fare a little more gourmet without having to worry about mincing garlic by the light of a headlamp while swatting mosquites and trying to keep the ashes from the fire out of my camp mug of wine.
Get it before the season ends
Seriously though, if you’ve never tried delicata squash then this Roasted Delicata Squash with Tomatoes needs to be on your list of recipes to make this fall. So good!
What’s your favorite winter squash and how do you like to prepare it? Share in the comments below!
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