I’ve never roasted a fall/winter squash before with the skin on and eaten it before. So when I was perusing Food 52 and saw this recipe for Squash With Chile Yogurt & Cilantro Sauce From Yotam Ottolenghi, I had to try it! Plus, it was dubbed “genius” by Kristin Miglore, author of Genius Foods. So I definitely had to try it. I pretty much followed this recipe to a T, but subbed Delicata squash for Butternut Squash because that’s what I had on hand. Plus I like it better.  Anyhow. I digress. Here is how I made it+ my thoughts and here is the original recipe.

It was delicious. And I really liked the chewy-ness of the skin on the squash!

And the cilantro/olive oil mixture was perfect. I never thought of pairing a citrus-y herb with squash, but then again… I’m no food genius either!

The spicy yogurt sauce too… woah. Talk about taste buds on fire. Just good things going on all over my palate. Spice, tang, texture, sweetness…literally everything you would want. Note here, I used a super tangy whole milk yogurt, because I wanted the sauce to be a little less think, you know? Greek yogurt is just so thick, it’s hard (for me) to make it saucy and it just kind of ends up sticking to my mouth. Which is great sometimes, but I just knew I wanted more of a runny sauce for this.

So I guess I made two small changes, which I will note int the recipe below. Otherwise, this is pretty much copied from Otto Lengh and Food 52! It was just such a memorable dish, I felt like I had to share!

Genius is more doable than you might think🤣🤷🏻‍♀️

First we just need to grab our ingredients, like so.

Than we roast our squash… skin on and standing up if you can.

Then we make our sauces and plate!

Mmmm. Good vibes😎

Ingredients:

• 1 large butternut squash (I used delicata)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons (90 milliliters) olive oil
• 1  bunch cilantro, leaves and stems, plus extra leaves for garnish
• 1 small clove garlic, crushed
• scant 2 ¹/₂ tablespoons (20 grams) pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup (200 grams) Greek yogurt (I used plain, uncultured, tangy whole milk yogurt)
• 1 ¹/₂ teaspoons Sriracha or another savory chile sauce (I used chili-garlic)
• Salt and black pepper

 

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 425º F.
2. Wash the squash skin well, cut the squash in half lengthwise, remove and discard the seeds, and then cut into wedges 3/4 inch wide and about 2 3/4 inches long, leaving the skin on. Place in a large bowl with the cinnamon, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and a good grind of pepper. Mix well so that the squash is evenly coated. Place the squash, skin side down if possible, on 2 baking sheets and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until soft and starting to color on top. (If they topple over and don’t stay skin side down, don’t worry.) Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
3. To make the herb paste, place the cilantro, garlic, the remaining 4 tablespoons oil, and a generous pinch of salt in the bowl of a small food processor, blitz to form a fine paste, and set aside. (I used a Vitamin Blender)
4. Turn down the oven temperature to 350º F. Lay the pumpkin seeds on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 6 to 8 minutes. The outer skin will pop open and the seeds will become light and crispy. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
5. When you are ready to serve, swirl together the yogurt and Sriracha sauce (I used Chili Garlic). (Yogurt’s thicknesses will vary so feel free to adjust the consistency to your liking with a splash of olive oil or water… or use a whole milk yogurt like me, lol)
6. Lay the squash wedges on a platter and dollop or drizzle the spicy yogurt sauce and then the herb paste over the top (you can also swirl the yogurt sauce and herb paste together, if you like). Scatter the pumpkin seeds on top, followed by the extra cilantro leaves, and serve… I also put the yogurt sauce on the bottom instead of drizzling it!