Candy and bitter in Italian cooking, or agrodolce, has roots that predate the Romans, however credit score Sicily- and the North African affect on their delicacies – with retaining it alive.
Sicilians slather a fundamental combination of vinegar and honey on grilled meat and fish. They flip roasted eggplant into caponata with a model of it dressed up with alliums, raisins and herbs. And generally they add nuts and chilies for a textured condiment that hits most, if not all, of the notes on the flavour spectrum.
The latter is what we had in thoughts for this acorn squash in our e-book “Prepare dinner What You Have,” which attracts on pantry staples to assemble straightforward weeknight meals. It couldn’t be simpler to organize and can make an ideal vegetarian facet dish for the vacations.
Because the sliced squash roasts within the oven – you don’t even must peel it – we construct a tangy-sweet sauce with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, rosemary, crimson pepper flakes and raisins. The mustard, although unconventional, provides an additional sharpness to stability the honey and pure sweetness of the nutty vegetable.
As soon as the squash is almost cooked, we end it with the agrodolce combination so it takes on a glaze-like luster within the oven. Ready so as to add toasted almonds as a garnish retains their crispness for textural distinction to the velvety squash.
Acorn squash is good for this recipe as a result of the pores and skin is edible (or simply peeled off after roasting for those who want). Butternut squash additionally works, however it would have to be peeled.
Begin to end: 1 hour
Servings: 4 to six
Components:
1½- to 2-pound acorn squash, halved lengthwise, seeded and sliced into 1-inch-thick half rings
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Kosher salt and floor black pepper
½ cup balsamic vinegar OR cider vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dried rosemary OR dried thyme
½ teaspoon crimson pepper flakes
¼ cup raisins
¼ cup complete almonds, roughly chopped OR slivered almonds OR sliced almonds, toasted
Instructions:
Warmth the oven to 475° F with a rack within the center place. On a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle the squash with 1 tablespoon oil and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Toss till nicely coated, then distribute in a fair layer. Roast till the squash is browned on each side and a skewer inserted into a bit meets no resistance, 25 to half-hour.
In the meantime, in a small bowl, whisk collectively the remaining 3 tablespoons oil, the vinegar, honey, mustard, rosemary and pepper flakes, then stir within the raisins.
When the squash is completed, take away the baking sheet from the oven. Pour the vinegar-raisin combination onto the squash, distributing the raisins evenly, then roast till the liquid is effervescent and syrupy, 5 to 7 minutes.
Utilizing a large steel spatula, switch the squash to a platter. Drizzle with the glaze from the baking sheet and sprinkle with the almonds.
Optionally available garnish: Recent flat-leaf parsley OR pomegranate seeds OR each
Get extra recipes and dinner concepts from The Washington Instances meals part.
