Roasted kabocha squash is a favorite fall vegetable dish of chef Ouita Michel. Photo by Talitha Schroeder
Ouita Michel is the owner/chef at the Holly Hill Co. family of restaurants: Honeywood, Holly Hill Inn, Holly Hill Events, and Holly Hill Cooking Studio.Midway Bakery, Smithtown Seafood, Thirsty Fox Wallace Station, Windy Corner and Zim’s.
Some of my favorite salads involve roasted vegetables, and kabocha squash is my all-time favorite roasted vegetable. This dense, delicious member of the Hubbard family has dark orange or green skin that is edible when cooked. Happy Jack’s Pumpkin Patch grows it for Holly Hill Inn.
This is a simple but elegant side dish or starter for a lovely fall menu. Enjoy it with hard cider or a glass of dry riesling wine. One small squash makes six portions.
Ingredients:
• One small kabocha squash, thoroughly washed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Kosher salt, to taste
• 1 cup fresh apple cider
• One-half cup toasted pumpkin seeds
• 3 ounces of thinly sliced country ham (I prefer Nancy Newsom’s prosciutto-cured country ham)
• 2 tablespoons of pumpkin seed oil (or your favorite nut-based oil)
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Trim the stem off the outside of the squash, cut in half, and scoop out the seeds and pulp. Cut each half into nice wedges.
Lay the wedges out on a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt. Roast until tender and lightly brown.
While the squash is roasting, bring the apple cider to a boil in a saucepan and reduce by two-thirds.
Toast the pumpkin seeds, and season with salt and a pinch of cayenne (if you like a little heat!).
To assemble the salad, arrange the kabocha wedges on a platter (or two wedges for each person on individual plates). Spoon the apple cider reduction over the squash, and sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds, lightly crushing them as you go.
Drape the wedges with the country ham and finally, drizzle with a little pumpkin seed oil.