Roasted Honeynut Squash with Lime Yogurt and Hazelnut Pesto
As the weather turns to fall, the leaves changing, a crispness in the air; my mind turns to time as a young teen.
We lived on a ranch then, and boarded horses to pay the rent. Mornings were sacred to my mom and she always took extra care to wake us up gently and sit us down to breakfast together. A stark contrast to the rest of the morning which was chaos; feeding the horses, four kids fighting for the bathroom, making sure we had all our books, out the door and off to school. The nights begin to creep slowly into our mornings so that when we woke, it was still dusk. I remember us sitting down for a bowl of hot oatmeal, still in our pajamas, savoring the morning and bathing in the warm light of our rustic chandelier. My mom had made a display of pumpkins on the table and the whole house smelled like cinnamon and coffee. Joshua, a Percheron we were boarding was standing outside the dining room window. His huge black head bobbing about, asking to be let inside so that he could share the oats and the warmth.
Joshua, standing 16 hands, was a horse we boarded on our property and was used in parades and horse shows.
But to us, he was the giant sweetheart who, much like a lap dog, thought he was smaller than he actually was. I loved that horse and his shenanigans. He was always trying to get some place he didn't belong. Like the time he managed to get in the tack room and left dinner-plate-sized holes in the floor. Or the time we left the back door open and caught him just before our dining room endured a similar fate. I digress.
Joshua being shod. Somehow, This is the only image I could find of him.
It is a snippet of a memory but I still feel the coziness of that morning every time it comes back to me. The way my mom made such an effort for us to slow down. The fact that, despite her running her own business, she always made time to decorate for the seasons. It is a habit that has stuck with me into my adulthood. I now find myself buying pumpkins and winter squash in bulk throughout the season. I'm trying to make sure I have enough for cooking and always a few extra for decorating. Though, they are all decoration until I eat them!
I created this dish out of an overabundance of squash, due in full to the habits my mother passed on. And even though this recipe has nothing to do with oatmeal, my mind wanders to that memory every so often, when the first pumpkins of the season start rolling in.
Roasted Honeynut Squash with Lime Yogurt and Hazelnut Pesto
Ingredients
- 4 small honeynut squash
- 1 c plain yogurt
- 1 tsp lime juice
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- Caramelized onions, roughly chopped
- Hazelnut pesto
- Herbed breadcrumbs
Instructions
- If you are using my recipe for caramelized onions, go ahead and do that first. It is the most time consuming portion of the dish. While the onions are roasting, make the pesto. (If you have the space you can roast your squash and onions together.)
- Preheat your oven to 450 F.
- Cut squash in half, lengthwise, and remove seeds. (You might save/freeze these for pumpkin stock.)
- Brush the interior with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Roast squash, with the insides facing upwards, for 25 minutes or until fork tender and a bit caramelized on the edges.
- In the meantime, whisk together yogurt and lime juice and season with salt and pepper. You can also go ahead and make your herbed breadcrumbs if you don't already have them on hand.
- Serve hot squash, fresh from the oven with dollops of lime yogurt and pesto. Sprinkle bits of chopped onion over the squash and top with a healthy handful of breadcrumbs.
Notes
"This is a great option to serve as a main dish for a meatless Monday or if you are vegetarian. Try pairing with a salad topped with olives, anchovies and bits of roasted chicken. Follow the link to the recipes for hazelnut pesto, herbed breadcrumbs and burnt onions. In the interest of saving time the day-of, make all of the ingredients, except for the squash, a day or two ahead of time. Then you can just roast your squash and serve!