Sweet butternut squash get the autumn treatment with fresh sage and a roasted lemon dressing for this fabulously fall flavored salad.
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 4 | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time |
| 40 minutes |
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Sweet butternut squash get the autumn treatment with fresh sage and a roasted lemon dressing for this fabulously fall flavored salad.
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Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash about 3 pounds
- 4 - 5 ounces baby arugula or a mix of baby arugula and baby kale
- 1/4 cup fresh minced sage leaves divided
- 2 shallots thinly sliced (enough to yield about 1/2 cup)
- 2 lemons quartered
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Parmigiano-Reggiano, Romano, Asiago, Ricotta or Bleu cheese per preference
- 1 small pinch sugar
- Scant 1 t-spoon kosher salt
Servings:
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F
- Peel the butternut squash and split it down the middle from the stem-end downwards. Scoop out the pulpy, seedy innards and throw into a bowl of water. Squidge the mush with your fingers to free the seeds and remove to some paper towel to dry.
- Toss the bone-dry seeds in an ovenproof skillet with a drop or two of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt. Place in the oven and roast, stirring every few minutes, until they’re toasted—about 8 – 10 minutes.
- Chop the squash into approximately 1 sq. in. cubes. Toss them with a little more of the olive oil, a good sprinkling of the salt, and about half of the sage leaves. Scatter on a baking sheet in a single layer and roast for 30 minutes, or until tender (I would check within 15 minutes just to see how it is progressing – sometimes it takes a mere 25 minutes, while other times, mysteriously though it is, it can take up to 40).
- In a separate, smaller, tray or tin, drizzle the lemon with a little olive oil—no salt yet—and place in the oven. Roast for 15 minutes, until they’re bronzed and scorched, the pulp having turned almost jam-like. Remove from the oven and drop the lemons into a fine mesh sieve placed over a bowl. Squish them down with a wooden spoon to extract their smoky-sour and cloudy juices. Season with a little salt and allow it to cool before whisking in the extra virgin olive oil. Taste the dressing—it should be a well-balanced mix of fresh, sour, smoky and bitter. The bitterness is important because it will offset and accentuate the sweetness of the squash and the sage’s musky earthiness.
- Once the squash is fully cooked, remove from the oven and toss them, on the tray, with the remaining bits of sage.
- Arrange the greens and shallots on serving plates, top with the squash, drizzle with the dressing and sprinkle with the roasted seeds. Top the salads with your cheese of choice and serve.
Recipe Notes
-To make this vegetarian make sure you choose a cheese that doesn't have rennet in it (a lot of ricotta doesn't). Make sure to check the label--just know that, at least I'm pretty confident, you can't get true Parmigiano-Reggiano without rennet.
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