Despoiler of Reason

I’d like to talk about two things today.  Perfect evil:

And perfect squash:

All I will say about the Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter is, “Hello, Handsome, why haven’t we met earlier?”  I had a dream about you the other night, and I’m a little embarrassed to talk about it.  Nutella, schmutella. 

Now the squash is lovely too, but perhaps a little less carnal.  (What a relief.  A girl can only swoon so much before she stops being taken seriously).  The idea for this squash came to me after making a roasted carrots recipe from Cooks Illustrated.  (Have I told y’all how much I love Cooks Illustrated?  No?  Okay, I love them.  Like, a lot.)  The squash is not as much about the right ingredients but rather about an ingenious cooking method.  The perfect cooking method.

(PERFECT) ROASTED WINTER SQUASH

1 smallish Butternut squash (I’m sure other varieties like Kabocha, pumpkin, etc. will work well, too)

2 T. Olive Oil

1/4 t. dried thyme

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Peel, deseed, and cube the squash into 1 inch chunks.  Toss the squash with olive oil and thyme (I like to do this in a large ziploc bag for one less dish to clean).  Arrange coated squash in a single layer on a sheet pan and cover tightly with foil. 

Place pan of squash in the oven on the middle rack and roast, covered, for 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes, remove the foil and continue roasting for approximately 25 minutes, stirring the cubes a few times, until golden.

The resulting squash will be  tender on the inside and sticky, gooey at the edges with just the slightest bit of crunch at the corners.  Like I said, perfect.