Roasted Maple Walnut Carnival Squash
Fall is here, and that means it’s harvest time for squash! We like using squash as a delicious side dish and as a substitute for starchy potatoes and pasta.
Carnival squash are small pumpkin shaped gourds with a thick variegated orange, yellow, and green rind. The green tells you that the squash is at its peak maturity. Carnival squash keeps well in a dry, cool place (we keep ours in the garage), but as it gets older, the green will start to fade to orange and yellow.
Ingredients
2 carnival squashes
2 tablespoons butter
4 teaspoons maple syrup
Pinch of sea salt
Pinch of cinnamon (optional)
Pinch of nutmeg (optional)
1/3 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut squash in half from stem to stem and clean out the seeds and strings.
Place each cleaned half, cut side up, in an oven-safe baking dish. Add about 1/4" water to the pan.
Coat inside of each squash half with 1/2 tablespoon of butter and lightly sprinkle just a touch of sea salt. Drizzle one teaspoon maple syrup inside each half. Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg if desired.
Loosely cover each half with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes until squash is soft all the way through.
Remove foil and add one quarter of chopped walnuts to each squash half. Coat the walnuts and cut surfaces of squash with the sweet butter sauce.
Bake for an additional 10 minutes uncovered.
Cut each half into 2 or 3 slices and serve hot.
Notes
Replace butter with 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil for vegan option.