Honeynut Squash from Camilla Marcus's "My Regenerative Kitchen" Cookbo

Recipe

Honeynut Squash from Camilla Marcus's "My Regenerative Kitchen" Cookbook

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes

Serving size: 4-6 servings

Difficulty: Medium

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I love honeynut squash, a hybrid between winter and butternut squash, because of its individual, personal size that minimizes waste no matter how small or large the group you’re cooking for.

I grow them in our garden from Dan Barber’s Row 7
Seeds, and they are now quite ubiquitous in grocery stores during the fall and holiday season. I prepared this dish for a hundred people when I cooked at the Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano, an incredible regenerative farm community anchor, so the recipe is designed to scale up for a large gathering. I often serve it in the baking dish, right out of the oven, for easy hosting. I like to keep the stem on for the whole look, and this recipe of course utilizes the seeds for garnish, with no element left behind.

Agrodolce is a Sicialian sweet-and-sour, sticky, molasses-like sauce. If you’re short on time, store-bought pomegranate molasses is an incredible substitute. Montasio cheese is a beautiful cow’s milk cheese from Friuli; you can substitute gruyere or any semisoft, pungent option you can find (even blue
cheese would be a fun kick on this).

-Camilla

Ingredients

4 honeynut squash

6 garlic cloves, smashed

1 bunch fresh sage, rosemary, tarragon, or fennel fronds

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

3 to 4 tablespoons kosher salt

Fresh cracked pepper

Avocado oil for baking squash, about 2 cups

Fried Squash Seeds

1/4 cup avocado oil

Seeds from 4 honeynut squash, cleaned and dried

1 teaspoon aleppo or espelette pepper

Agrodolce

2 tbs avocado oil

1 shallot, minced

1 garlic clove, grated

1 cup sherry vinegar

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup shaved montasio cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Prepare the honeynut squash: cut them in half lengthwise (keep the stem on for presentation) and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds carefully so there’s a nice spherical hole, saving the seeds for later.
Place each half skin side down in a deep baking dish just big enough to fit all the squash. Scatter the smashed garlic over the squash, along with the herbs. Season with the cumin, coriander, and nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste.
Fill the baking dish with enough avocado oil so it goes up half of the height of the squash, and pour a little oil into each squash well on the flesh side (depending on the size of your baking dish, you may need a little more or less oil for cooking). Cover with foil and place in the oven. Bake for 25 minutes, until the squash is very tender but still holding its shape.
Meanwhile, clean the seeds from the stringy flesh in a colander and then dry with a kitchen towel. Let them dry on your kitchen counter for as long as you can.
Heat the 1/4 cup avocado oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the seeds, being careful not to overcrowd the pan, and cook, shaking and moving them around a bit, until they get golden brown. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on a kitchen towel, hitting it with a pinch of salt and aleppo pepper immediately, while piping hot. Set aside.
While the squash is cooking, make the agrodolce: Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of avocado oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until hot. Add the shallot and the grated garlic, cooking them down until soft but not brown, about 5 minutes.
Add the vinegar and let cook down, reducing by three quarters. Stir in the honey and let reduce further until you have a thick, molasses-like consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Some people add butter at this stage, but I leave it astringent without it.
Assemble the cooked squash on a serving platter. Drizzle some of the cooking oil from the baking dish over the squash (and store the rest for anything, as it’s infused with so much goodness), followed by 4 to 5 tablespoons of the agrodolce. Sprinkle the cheese shavings over the squash and top with the fried squash seeds and fresh cracked pepper.