caramelized acorn squash

From the Better Homes & Gardens “Anyone Can Cook” cookbook

Ingredients

2 1- to 1 1/2- pound acorn squash

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup apple cider or apple juice

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 ground nutmeg

Cooking Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 15 x 10 x 1 inch baking pan with parchment paper or foil.  Cut each squash in half; discard seeds and fibrous material.  Place halves, cut sides down, in the prepared baking pan.  Bake, uncovered, in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until the squash is tender.  Let stand until cool enough to handle; cut into 1-inch slices.  Arrange squash slices in a 2-quart rectangular baking dish, overlapping as necessary.

For glaze, in a 10-inch skillet heat butter, brown sugar, cider, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg to boiling, stirring to dissolve sugar.  Reduce heat; boil gently, uncovered about 5 minutes or until syrupy.  Drizzle glaze over squash.  Bake, uncovered, about 10 minutes more or until heated through.  Spoon glaze over squash before serving.  Don’t eat squash skin.  Makes 6 servings.

Nutritional Information

154 cal., 8 g total fat (5 g sat. fat), 20 mg chol., 160 mg sodium, 22 g carbo, 2 g fiber, 1 g pro.

Our thoughts

While this sounds delicious, I prefer my squash to be mashed.  So, here’s my twist on this recipe.  Once the squash is out of the oven and is cool enough to handle, spoon out the squash and place it in a serving bowl.  Prepare the glaze as directed, but omit apple cider or juice, and add maple syrup.  Pour the glaze over the squash and leave as-is, or mix in. 

Delicious, and a great way to take advantage of this seasonal veggie. 

Acorn squash can keep for quite awhile (a month or sometimes more!).