Baked Acorn Squash Halves beside the Main Plate

Set out Acorn Squash, Unsalted butter, and Dark brown sugar or light brown! before you start Baked Acorn Squash Halves beside the Main Plate. The batch is written for 2 halves.

Count on 5 minutes of prep, 25 minutes of cooking, about 30 minutes from the first measurement to the plate.

Ingredients Method

What goes in the bowl

• 1 Acorn Squash
• Unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons Dark brown sugar or light brown!
• ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt or a generous sprinkle
• Pinch Cinnamon optional but delicious
• Pecans toasted and chopped, optional for serving

How the cooking goes

1. Heat the oven to 350°F regular or convection.

Prepare the Acorn Squash

1. On a sturdy cutting board, slice off the top and bottom of the squash.
2. Set cut side down on the cutting board and slice in half lengthwise exposing the seeds.
3. Portion out the seeds and keep it to one side for roasting or discard.
4. Set cut halves skin side down in a cast iron pan or in a baking dish. You can cut a little off the back of each so it sits flat if you desire. This is definitely not necessary but if the squash is large, it can make all the difference between the butter staying in the squash or it ending up in the bottom of your baking dish!
5. Set butter, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon in the center of each squash half. There is no need to mix it or anything. Just let the butter melt and the flavors meld while the squash cook.
6. Cover with aluminum foil then bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes then remove the foil and continue cooking until the squash is tender and pierces easily with a fork, paring knife or cake tester. Usually an additional 5-10 minutes. The bake time will vary depending on the size of the acorn squash and the baking dish you chose. Mine baked in under 20 minutes in the cast iron!
7. Using a fork, mix the butter mixture into the squash. Taste and season with additional salt as desired.
8. Serve with or without the skin. The acorn squash skin becomes soft and tender when baked and you find it has no discernable flavor. After baking the flesh is easily scooped out if you don’t want the skin.

After it comes off the heat

Give the plate the rest the method asks for. Cover leftovers and refrigerate them when the dish includes meat, eggs, or dairy.

If you want another plate from Sides, open Cranberry Chutney beside the Main Plate and And Scalloped Potatoes for the Sharing Bowl.