This roasted butternut squash dish is one of my go-to dinners, because 1) It’s delicious. It’s one of those dishes that makes eating your veggies seem like a treat, rather than a task. 2) It smells AMAZING while it’s baking. I love to prepare it while my son is napping, and then when he wakes up, we play in the living room while taking big, deep breaths as the smells of roasting squash and onions fill the room, and 3) It has relatively few ingredients, so it’s easy to whip up, as long as I have a butternut squash lying around. And 4) I’m a fall girl. All year long, I dream of the sunsets and golden leaves in September, October and November, and making this dish always reminds me of autumn.
Start by washing, peeling, and chopping your butternut squash and onions. This is the most time consuming part of the recipe — once the chopping is done, assembling the dish is a breeze. I generally chop off the top and bottom of the squash, peel the sides with a vegetable peeler, remove the seeds, and then chop. However, I’ve heard some people will first microwave the squash (with some holes poked through) for a couple minutes, which should help make the peeling easier. I might try this next time!
Mmmmm…. butternut squash… onions… parmesan cheese… I can smell it already!
Wash and peel butternut squash. I do this by chopping off the top and bottom and peeling the sides with a vegetable peeler. Then, remove all of the seeds and stringy inside material. Then, chop squash into similar sized pieces (roughly 1-2″ cubes). Chop your onion into medium sized pieces.
In a large bowl, mix together the butternut squash, onion, and dried cranberries (if using cranberries). Then, add in the garlic olive oil, garlic powder, bread crumbs, and shredded parmesan.
Oil a 13×9″ baking dish with some of the garlic olive oil. Pour squash mixture into the baking dish, top lightly with some extra breadcrumbs, and bake at 425 degrees for about 35-40 minutes, making sure to check regularly at the end to make sure it isn’t burning. Rotate dish one time (roughly the 20 minute mark) to ensure the dish is cooked evenly.