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Roasted Acorn Squash with Pine Nuts, Honey, and Parsley

By Mark Huxsoll

Published on August 23, 2022

Time

1¼ hours

Yield

Serves 6 to 8

Roasted Acorn Squash with Pine Nuts, Honey, and Parsley

Ingredients

Squash

2 acorn squashes (1½ pounds each)¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon table salt 1 teaspoon pepper

Topping

¼ cup pine nuts 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil ¼ cup honey 1 tablespoon lemon juice ¼ teaspoon table salt 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Before You Begin

If you can find only squashes smaller than 1½ pounds, begin checking for doneness a few minutes early. Conversely, squashes larger than 1¼ pounds will take slightly longer to cook.

Instructions

    for the squash

  1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Working with 1 squash at a time, cut ¼-inch-thick slice from stem end of squash. Place squash trimmed side down on cutting board, halve squash lengthwise, scrape out seeds, and cut each half into 4 wedges.
  2.  Toss squash with oil, salt, and pepper in large bowl until evenly coated. Arrange squash cut side down in single layer on rimmed baking sheet. Roast until side touching sheet is deep golden brown, about 25 minutes. Using spatula, carefully flip each wedge onto second cut side and continue to roast until well browned on second side, about 10 minutes longer.
  3. for the topping

  4. Meanwhile, combine pine nuts and oil in small saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until pine nuts are golden brown, about 4 minutes. Off heat, whisk in honey, lemon juice, and salt.
  5.  Using spatula, gently transfer squash to serving platter. Drizzle evenly with pine nut mixture and sprinkle with parsley. Serve.
Roasted Acorn Squash with Pine Nuts, Honey, and Parsley
Photography by Steve Klise. Styling by Elle Simone.

Roasted Acorn Squash with Pine Nuts, Honey, and Parsley

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Time

1¼ hours

Yield

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

Squash

2 acorn squashes (1½ pounds each)
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Topping

¼ cup pine nuts
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup honey
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Test Kitchen Techniques

Ingredients

Squash

2 acorn squashes (1½ pounds each)
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Topping

¼ cup pine nuts
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup honey
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Test Kitchen Techniques

Ingredients

Squash

2 acorn squashes (1½ pounds each)
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Topping

¼ cup pine nuts
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup honey
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Test Kitchen Techniques

Why This Recipe Works

For deep browning (and deep flavor), we cut acorn squash into wedges and roasted the wedges cut side down on a baking sheet at high heat until the side touching the sheet was deeply golden brown. We then flipped the wedges and returned the sheet to the oven to allow the other side of the wedges to brown. To make this dish even easier, we left the squash unpeeled—the skin is tender enough to eat once cooked. A sauce of honey, lemon, and pine nuts and a shower of parsley brought out the best qualities of the tender roasted squash wedges. For an even more flavorful sauce, we toasted the pine nuts directly in oil, giving us an infused oil to use in the dish as well as evenly golden-brown, freshly toasted nuts with great flavor and texture.

Before You Begin

If you can find only squashes smaller than 1½ pounds, begin checking for doneness a few minutes early. Conversely, squashes larger than 1¼ pounds will take slightly longer to cook.

Instructions

    for the squash

  1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Working with 1 squash at a time, cut ¼-inch-thick slice from stem end of squash. Place squash trimmed side down on cutting board, halve squash lengthwise, scrape out seeds, and cut each half into 4 wedges.
  2.  Toss squash with oil, salt, and pepper in large bowl until evenly coated. Arrange squash cut side down in single layer on rimmed baking sheet. Roast until side touching sheet is deep golden brown, about 25 minutes. Using spatula, carefully flip each wedge onto second cut side and continue to roast until well browned on second side, about 10 minutes longer.
  3. for the topping

  4. Meanwhile, combine pine nuts and oil in small saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until pine nuts are golden brown, about 4 minutes. Off heat, whisk in honey, lemon juice, and salt.
  5.  Using spatula, gently transfer squash to serving platter. Drizzle evenly with pine nut mixture and sprinkle with parsley. Serve.

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