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Ombré Gratin
Alexa Weibel
2576 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,576
3 hours
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Heat oven to 425 degrees. Cut the squash in half lengthwise. Remove pulp and seeds, if you like. Continue to cut squash into 1½-inch wedges.
Toss squash on a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil, maple syrup, paprika and red-pepper flakes. Season with kosher salt and pepper, and roast, turning each piece once, until both sides are evenly browned and squash is completely tender, 40 to 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, toast hazelnuts in a small skillet over medium heat, tossing frequently until they’re evenly browned, about the color of a good piece of toast, and smell almost like popcorn, 4 to 6 minutes.
Remove from oven and transfer squash to a large serving platter. Drizzle with olive oil and a bit more maple syrup. Sprinkle with hazelnuts, flaky salt and more black pepper. Zest lemon over everything and halve lemon to squeeze over before serving.
do you eat the skin of the squash?
Made with kabocha squash, and really enjoyed the unusual combination of flavors. Will definitely make again! Found I needed to flip the squash multiple times and move it high in the oven- it seemed to be starting to burn at 15 mins before I flipped the pieces and moved the sheet higher in the oven. May try at slightly lower temp next time.
Made this tonight with a honeynut squash. Used a combo of smoked paprika and berbere instead of hot smoked paprika. Stuck in the oven at 350 because there were pork ribs already roasting at that temp. Skipped the nuts and squeezed lemon (no zest) over. Excellent - and yes, we are eating the skins. We'll make this again.
When it's roasted at high temps, even thick-skinned squash softens enough to be edible
As a pre-Thanksgiving try-out, I made this last night with Kuri squash. Used smoked paprika and, instead of red pepper flakes, 2T of Aleppo pepper and it was sufficient heat for us. Didn't have hazelnuts so substituted almonds. After 20 minutes I had to lower the oven to 350 because the squash cooked quickly and was about to burn. The lemon zest and lemon spritz really makes this dish! A keeper.
I know it wouldn't be quite as good but could this be made ahead and heated up right before serving?
Two tips: Using parchment paper to line the baking sheet makes cleanup very simple Delicata squash is another great choice and you never need to peel it. We prefer no sweetness so I make this all the time using olive oil, salt, pepper, and spices. Will definitely try with the toasted nuts and lemon zest.
I used delicata squash, turned at 15 minutes, done in 30. Perfect.
I bake autumnal root veggies all the time and I do use a lot of olive oil. The veggies drink it in like crazy when baking.
The skin is technically edible. Cooking makes it more tender. But I don't eat it.
Used kabocha and ate the skin. Baked at 400 for about 40 min. Flipped once at half way point. No nuts. Delicious! I ate most right out of the oven last evening and the rest with a fried egg for breakfast! A keeper!
I don’t think I’ll need that much oil - but this sounds great for those of us who don’t eat animal products.
"It depends." Some squashes end up with perfectly edible skin after roasting and some do not. I've always peeled butternut squash but now I wonder if that's necessary. I love tetsukabuto squash, which I've been getting this Fall, for being delicious in itself and also not needing to be peeled.
An abundance of spaghetti squash from the garden drove me to try this with what I had. I used chipotle chile from Chimayo, NM and it did the trick. It was both fun and tasty to experiment with the flavor.s Honey (from New Mexico of course) seemed to work well in place of the maple syrup. Enjoy!
I’m thinking leave out the crushed red pepper and paprika and using harissa instead.
I mixed some Greek yogurt, lemon, and salt together and drizzled this on top along with chopped parsley as a garnish. Served alongside some Mediterranean style fried chickpeas and a green salad. I will definitely make this again! Delicious!
Made with carrots. Worked great!
the squash is sweet enouogh without adding maple syrup.
SO delicious. The quantity of maple syrup depends on the squash; delicata squash is quite sweet, for instance (but you still want some stickiness!). Do NOT skip the lemon zest nor toasting the hazelnuts -- sublime!!!
Okay, so I followed the idea but not the details of this recipe, and I'm sure it would have been even better if I'd followed it exactly, but as it was, it was outstanding. I wanted to use up bits around the house, so I used some chili crisp and ginger syrup, and some maple syrup. The squash is actually more like dessert than a side dish. Yum!
Outstanding. There are other great squash recipes on this site (Roasted Chicken Thighs With Winter Squash being one), but this is the best I've tried. I used almond slices instead of hazelnuts to avoid going out of the way. Kept the skin on the squash as advised. Forgot the drizzle of olive oil at the end, but it was still fantastic. Somehow the almonds, lemon zest, lemon juice, and squash skin create this immaculate flavor. I'll absolutely be serving this as a holiday side.
I served this as a side with halibut fillet and swiss chard. I also tossed in some small yellow potatoes sliced in two for my husband who does not like always like squash. Both were wonderful. This is a great prep for roast vegetables. Warning that some spice averse may want to tone down the red pepper flakes. Fine for us.
Flavor was great but slightly too spicy. Next time will skip the nuts and drizzle with a yoghurt, olive oil and lemon juice/zest dressing.
One of my favorite holiday dishes! Love the combination of sweet, nutty, salty and spice.
Delicious but maybe adjust the amt of hot paprika or red pepper bc was just too firey for me to be able to eat it. Suggestions?
Very easy, would try a lower temp next time around
This is one of my favorite recipes. I use a low-calorie Monk fruit sweetened maple syrup and it taste wonderful. Wish I could post the picture I just took of the latest batch!
Great recipe. Butternut squash was too mushy after recommended cooking time. Would cook less time. And be forewarned that the full amount of red pepper flakes adds a fair amount of heat.
This is probably near the top of the top 5 best things I’ve ever eaten in my life. Feel like this recipe made me love squash. -for the person that asked about if you can eat the skin, depends on the squash you use. Would just look it up for each variety. It’s okay if you can’t eat the skin to still cook it on there, because the squash easily slides off with a fork from the skin. If you don’t have hazelnuts, you could probably use any darker nut like walnut and it would taste good.
Was delicious - love the combination of the maple + the paprika
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