Prep
30 min
Total
1 hr 25 min
Serves
4
Caramelized roasted butternut squash and thin strips of lacinato kale are topped with toasted Almond-Pecan Parmesan in this delectable fall dish. It’s no wonder this comfort food side dish is one of the most popular on my blog. The hardest part about this recipe is chopping up the squash, but it’s easy sailing from there. When I’m in a time crunch, I occasionally buy pre-chopped fresh butternut squash at my local grocery store so I can make this recipe in a heartbeat. Our little secret?
This recipe is vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, sugar-free, grain-free.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 (2 to 3- pound/900-g to 1.35- kg) butternut squash peeled and chopped
- 2 large cloves garlic minced
- ½ cup (125 ml) fresh parsley leaves finely chopped
- 1 ½ teaspoons (7 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon (2 ml) fine-grain sea salt
Almond-Pecan Parmesan
- ¼ cup (60 ml) almonds
- ¼ cup (60 ml) pecans
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) nutritional yeast (optional)
- 1 ½ teaspoons (7 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/8 teaspoons (0.5 ml) fine-grain sea salt
- 1 cup (250 ml) lacinato kale leaves stemmed, chopped
METHOD
- Make the Squash: Preheat the oven to 400F (200C). Lightly oil a 2 ½ to 3-quart (2.5- to 3-L) casserole dish.
- Peel the squash. Thinly slice off the bottom and top and then halve the squash lengthwise. Remove the seeds with a grapefruit spoon or ice cream scoop. Chop the squash into 1-inch (2.5-cm) chunks and place them in the casserole dish.
- Add the garlic, parsley, oil, and salt and stir until well combined with the squash.
- Cover the dish with a lid (or foil) and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the squash is fork-tender.
- Meanwhile, make the Almond-Pecan Parmesan: In a food processor, combine the almonds, pecans, nutritional yeast, oil, and salt and pulse until chunky (or simply chop the nuts by hands and mix everything together in a bowl).
- When the squash is fork-tender, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 350F (180C). Carefully fold in the chopped kale and sprinkle the Almond-Pecan Parmesan all over the squash. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes more, uncovered, until the nuts are lightly toasted and the kale is wilted.