Roasted butternut squash & red onion with tahini & za’atar

Amarante

Sun, Feb 07 2016, 8:54 am

Another great recipe from Ottolenghi's Jerusalem cookbook.

Since dish is served at room temperature, easy to prep components ahead of time. I used precut butternut squash to simplify.

Roasted butternut squash & red onion with tahini & za’atar

Source: Yottam Ottolenghi - Jerusalem A Cookbook

SERVES 4

This is a highly versatile dish that is quite simple to prepare but boasts some very substantial flavors. It is ideal as a starter, a vegetarian main course, or as a side to serve with a simple main course such as Lamb shawarma or Chicken sofrito, minus the potatoes. The tahini sauce is quite dominant. Although we love this, you may want to use a little less of it when finishing the dish. Just taste it and decide.

1 large butternut squash (2½ lb / 1.1 kg in total), cut into ¾ by 2½-inch / 2 by 6cm wedges
2 red onions, cut into 1¼-inch / 3cm wedges
3½ tbsp / 50 ml olive oil
3½ tbsp light tahini paste
1½ tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp water
1 small clove garlic, crushed
3½ tbsp / 30 g pine nuts
1 tbsp za’atar
1 tbsp coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 475°F / 240°C.

Put the squash and onion in a large mixing bowl, add 3 tablespoons of the oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and some black pepper and toss well. Spread on a baking sheet with the skin facing down and roast in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until the vegetables have taken on some color and are cooked through. Keep an eye on the onions as they might cook faster than the squash and need to be removed earlier. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

To make the sauce, place the tahini in a small bowl along with the lemon juice, water, garlic, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Whisk until the sauce is the consistency of honey, adding more water or tahini if necessary.

Pour the remaining 1½ teaspoons oil into a small frying pan and place over medium-low heat. Add the pine nuts along with ½ teaspoon salt and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often, until the nuts are golden brown. Remove from the heat and transfer the nuts and oil to a small bowl to stop the cooking.

To serve, spread the vegetables out on a large serving platter and drizzle over the tahini. Sprinkle the pine nuts and their oil on top, followed by the za’atar and parsley