Roasted Butternut Squash

By coffeycake

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash
• ghee, coconut oil or oil of choice
• optional: Salt and/or pepper for later seasoning if desired.

Details

Adapted from urbanposer.blogspot.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Wash and dry the squash. Using a large, sharp knife, cut the squash in half vertically. (as seen in the pictures) I leave the seeds for now and scoop them out after the squash has cooked. You can also scoop them out before baking, especially if you want to use the seeds in your garden.

Using a little ghee or oil, lightly coat the entire surface of the squash. Pay special attention to the cut side.

Place cut side down (outside skin facing up) on a well seasoned cookie sheet or baking stone. Parchment paper can be used if desired, but I find that I get better caramelizing when putting it straight on the the cookie sheet.

Place another cookie sheet or casserole dish on the rack beneath the squash to catch any drippings. Sometimes there is more of this than others, depending on the squash.

Now, here's the secret....bake the crap out of that squash! I mean it. Let it go for over an hour, sometimes longer on the big ones! I've been known to let mine go as long as an hour and half.

You'll know that it's ready because it will start to smell like something is burning....because guess what.......something IS!

As it gets close to being done, the squash will release a sugary liquid, and if you let it cook long enough that liquid will start to burn around the squash. It looks like bubbly, burnt marshmallow (and it kind of smells like it too.)



That's when you know that you're about to indulge in a sweet, bright orange, super creamy, caramelized butternut squash!

When it's finished roasting, just remove the squash from the oven, flip them over to cool a bit, remove the seeds and then scoop out the squash into a bowl. Or if you're like me, just season and eat it right then and there! Enjoy!

- See more at: http://urbanposer.blogspot.com/#sthash.Pvn6MEGZ.dpuf