Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Onion

Thanksgiving tends to be about time honored family favorites that show up on the table year after year. I mean, let's face it - no one wants to travel over the river and through the woods so they can be served up an experimental tofu dish!  Not that you can't spice things up with a new addition to the Thanksgiving menu! We often sneak in new dishes for holidays but we just make sure to kind of hide them between the mashed potatoes and the sweet potatoes and the green beans and the rolls and the stuffing and the cranberry....

This year Emily made a veggie dish she first introduced to us two years ago at Thanksgiving. And when I say "us" I mean mostly me because you'd sure not find Martin trying something so exotic looking and tasting as butternut squash mixed with red onion. And don't even mention the tahini glaze!

I love this dish anytime of the year but it does make a spectacularly beautiful addition to the autumn colors of a Thanksgiving table. The recipe says the tahini glaze is optional but it seems like an option you don't want to miss out on, as the glaze seems to bring out the flavors of the vegetables. There is a bit of work involved in the prep of the vegetables but nothing too extensive.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Onion
Recipe Courtesy of NYTimes

Ingredients:

About 1/2 cup olive oil, plus extra for pans
4 large red onions
 Coarse salt and black pepper
4 pounds butternut squash cut into 1/2-inch wedges, peeled or unpeeled
⅓ cup pine nuts or shelled green pistachio nuts (optional)
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley, mint, cilantro or a combination, for garnish

For Tahini Sauce: (OPTIONAL)
¼ cup tahini paste
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 small clove garlic, crushed

PREPARATION
Heat oven to 475 degrees. Lightly coat two large baking sheets with olive oil.
Peel onions, leaving root ends intact. Cut each onion in half from stem to root. Cut each half into 4 wedges, leaving the root intact so that each wedge holds together. Spread on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with oil.
Put the squash in a large mixing bowl. Add 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt and about 1/4 teaspoon pepper; toss to coat. Spread on a baking sheet, peel side down (if intact).
Place both pans in oven and roast for 30 to 40 minutes, until the vegetables have taken on some color and are cooked through. Keep an eye on the onions, as they may cook faster than the squash and need to be removed earlier.
If using nuts, pour 1 tablespoon oil into a small frying pan and place over medium-low heat. Add nuts and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often, until the nuts are golden brown and smell toasty. Immediately remove from the heat and dump onto a cutting board to stop the cooking. If using pistachios, chop coarsely when cool enough to handle.
To make tahini sauce, place tahini in a bowl. Add lemon juice, 1/4 cup water, garlic and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Whisk until sauce is the consistency of honey, adding more water or a tablespoon of olive oil if necessary.
When the vegetables are cooked, set aside until ready to serve. (The vegetables should be served the same day they are made. They can be served at warm room temperature, or reheated just before serving.)
To serve, combine vegetables on a large serving platter. If using tahini sauce, drizzle on top. Sprinkle herbs and, if using, nuts on top and serve.
From "Jerusalem: A Cookbook," by Yotam Ottolenghi