Maple Roasted Acorn Squash Brushetta

After picking up some Rosemary Olive Oil Bread (from Uprise Bakery) and local acorn squash (from the Rootcellar) I decided that Maple Roasted Acorn Squash Brushetta had to be my inaugural blog post!

This recipe is inspired by a dish I sampled at Sycamore's O'Fallon beer dinner. Their version included toasted pine nuts and no maple syrup, so this dish can be a mix-and-match of any of your favorite  flavors. I used a copious amount of butter to give my bread nice flavor and an added crunch and crushed red pepper flakes in the acorn squash glaze for a subtle pop of heat.

Ingredients:
1 pound acorn squash
2 tablespoons MAPLE syrup (no fake syrup in this kitchen!)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 sprig rosemary
2 thick slices of your favorite bread
3 tablespoons butter

balsamic vinegar to drizzle

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Slice acorn squash in half from top to bottom and scoop out the seeds. Slice squash into 3/4-inch wide half slices and place in a medium bowl. Drizzle squash with  syrup, olive oil and sprinkle with red pepper flakes, freshly ground black pepper and salt. Place the squash on a foil-lined baking sheet (for easy clean up). Reserve remaining syrup mixture. Bake the squash until tender and golden, 25-30 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes. When cool enough to handle, remove skin.

While squash is cooling, slather slices of bread with 1 tbsp of butter each and cook over medium-high heat in fry pan. Remove when bread is golden brown on each side.

Add 1 tbsp butter, remaining syrup mixture and 1 tsp roughly chopped rosemary to fry pan at medium heat. When mixture begins to bubble, add squash, toss until evenly coated and spoon onto bread.

Drizzle with reduced balsamic vinegar (I use a thick balsamic glaze to save time), season with a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper.


Marvel at your sexy creation, pair with your favorite pumpkin beer (mine is O'Fallon) and enjoy!