One of my favorite things about fall and winter produce is the abundance of various squash, especially butternut and acorn.  Roasted squash is one of the simplest side dishes you can make.  The most difficult part of the preparation is cutting through the hard skin and flesh, but once you’ve gotten through that step, all you need to do is rub a fat on the surface of the flesh (butter or olive oil are my go-tos), season it, and let the oven do the rest of the work.  In this recipe, acorn squash is given a caramelized glaze of butter and brown sugar, with a little kick from cayenne pepper.  It doesn’t get much easier than this.

1 acorn squash

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Meanwhile, mix the softened butter, brown sugar, cayenne pepper, and salt together to form a paste.

2. Using a large, sharp knife, cut the acorn squash in half.  Using a spoon, scrape the seeds and squash guts out of the cavity of each half.  Once cleaned out, cut each half in half, creating quarters.

3. Place the acorn squash flesh-side up on a baking sheet.  Rub the flesh of the acorn squash with the butter-sugar mixture.

4. Roast the squash in the oven for 1 hour.  After removing it from the oven, allow it to cool for a few minutes.  Serve warm.

Serves 4