Roasted squash and onions with tahini, za’atar, and walnuts
There are some recipes that stick with you your whole life. This is one of them. I first made this 10 years ago to try to impress a date, and I remember the recipe more than I remember the guy. It’s in the top 5 of my favourite recipes of all time. It’s my go-to recipe when I want to impress a date, serve a vegetarian main, or make a great side dish through fall and winter. It’s perfect served warm, but the leftovers are great straight from the fridge.
I’ve added a few changes to Ottolenghi’s recipe over the years, so you can try the original here. I peel the squash, add much more lemon, replace the pine nuts with less expensive walnuts, and bloom the za’atar in olive oil. I encourage you to play with the recipe.
Ingredients
Roasted vegetables:
1kg butternut squash (1 large)
700g red onions (2 medium)
45g olive oil (3 tbsp)
5g salt (1 tsp if using Diamond)
4 ice cubes (optional)
Dressing:
60g tahini
30g lemon juice (1-2 lemons)
30g water
1 small clove garlic
1-2 pinches of salt (1/4 tsp if using Diamond)
Toppings:
15g olive oil
45g walnuts, pistachios, almonds, or pine nuts
1 tbsp. za'atar
1 tbsp coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Black pepper to taste
Flakey salt, like Maldon, optional
Method
Roast the squash and onions
Preheat oven to 475°F
Peel your butternut squash using a vegetable peeler; if you are getting a new harvest squash in September/October and the skin is still thin, you can leave it on (I don’t like it, it can get leathery while roasting)
Cut your butternut squash into roughly 2-1/2” long x 3/4” wide wedges.
First, lay down your squash on your cutting board so it runs lengthwise from left to right. Cut off the top and bottom, then divide it into 3 or 4 equal lengths roughly 2-1/2” long
Use a spoon to remove the seeds where necessary, you can save these to roast like pumpkin seeds
Stand each piece up so the flat side is down, and cut into 4 or 6 pieces, depending on how big your squash is. You want finished pieces around 3/4” thick.
Cut your onions in half, then into a similar size as the squash, this will be 4, 6, or 8 pieces depending on how big your onions are
In a large bowl, toss the onions and squash with 45g olive oil and 5g salt; if you toss this right on the baking sheet you’ll have a harder time cleaning up the baking sheet later. It’s easier to wash the bowl.
Transfer to a single layer on a baking sheet
Add 4 ice cubes to the baking sheet; the ice cubes will melt instantly in the oven and create steam. The steam will help the squash cook faster, so it will be tender by the time it’s crispy.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the squash has crispy edges and is cooked through, you can test this by seeing if a paring knife inserts without resistance
If the onions begin to char before the squash is ready, remove them from them oven and put the squash back in
Allow to cool to room temperature
Toast the nuts
In a frying pan, add 15g of olive oil and the nuts
Turn the heat on medium and cook until the nuts are deeply toasted. For walnuts and almonds this will take 8-10 minutes. For pistachios or pine nuts this will take 3-5 minutes.
Remove the nuts from the heat to stop cooking
Toast the spices
In the same pan used for the nuts, add 15g olive oil and heat until shimmering
Add the za’atar and heat for 30 seconds until fragrant and immediately remove from heat to a bowl
This is an optional step, you can put the spice on dry
Make the dressing
In a medium bowl, add the tahini, lemon juice, water, garlic, a pinch of salt, and whisk until combined
Adjust the taste and texture as needed, it should have the texture of honey
Too loose: add tahini
Too thick: add lemon juice or water (use water if it’s already quite bright or tangy, but I generally add more lemon)
Assemble
In a serving bowl or platter, arrange the squash and onions
Drizzle the tahini dressing on top
Sprinkle the nuts, spoon the za’atar, and parsley on top
Serve warm or at room temperature. Leftovers are great cold.
Notes:
Pine nuts are very expensive. While they are delicious, I don’t think they are worth the $20 extra they add to this recipe.
You can use any robust squash, like acorn or pumpkin, as well. Honey nut squash would be very good.