I really like kabocha squash. It's sweet like a pie pumpkin, but the flesh is much less wet. It's great roasted and mashed. (As it is for these squash toastsa.)

This recipe calls for a slightly different approach. Rather than roasting it with the skin on and then scooping out the softened flesh, you cut it into wedges and peel it first and then roast the wedges. Sounds good. But, sadly, I had a bit of trouble with this approach. The wedges took much longer to cook than the recipe suggested and, with a longer cooking time, they ended up starting to burn at the tips while still being somewhat underdone in the middle. Next time I think I'd just cut the squash into cubes and roast it that way. Or, possibly better yet, roast unpeeled halves, mash the flesh, and then just drizzle a little balsamic over it before serving. Because, while this approach wasn't terrible, it wasn't great either, so I would definitely like to make some modificaitons next time. (Or just save the squash and use it for something else entirely.)

Roasted Kabocha Squash with Balsamic Vinegar

From Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 kabocha squash (~1kg)
• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Cut squash in half and scoop out seeds. Then cut each half into wedges ~2cm thick¹ and peel each wedge.
3. Toss squash wedges with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Roast at 200°C (400°F) until tender (20-25 minutes).
5. Drizzle with balsamic and roast for another 2-3 minutes.

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¹ In retrospect, part of my problem may be that I cut my wedges too thick. But even so, I don't think I'd want to do wedges again. Trying to cut and peel the wedges was annoying. I think I'd still rather just do cubes or mash and drizzle. ^Back