thanksgiving countdown: butternut squash with pecans & blue cheese

As I was flipping through my Nigella Express cookbook recently, this recipe for butternut squash with pecans and blue cheese stood out. I'd never made butternut squash before, but there's always a first and it's hard to resist anything that has cheese and nuts involved. Once I cut into the squash I was sad I hadn't made it sooner, it was such a lovely vegetable. After I'd admired it for awhile, I cut it up into 1 inch cubes, sprinkled some thyme over top, drizzled a little olive oil over top and popped it in the oven. I let it cook up for awhile and pulled it out after the squash was tender to the touch. That's when the magic happens. I tossed a nice sprinkling of cheese and pecans over the squash and got ready to taste my first homemade butternut squash. Are you ready? Yum! It was tasty stuff! I liked the slightly sweet flavor of the squash paired with the tangy blue cheese and crunch of the pecan. This would make a great side dish for Thanksgiving, Nigella even reccomends it as a turkey alternative for vegetarians. butternut squash with pecans & blue cheese from Nigella Express serves 6-8 4 1/2 cups butternut squash 2 tablespoons olive oil 6 stalks fresh thyme 1 cups pecans 1 cup blue cheese 1 preheat oven 425° F 2 Halve the squash, leave the skin on and scoop out the seeds. Cut the squash into 1-inch pieces. 3 Put the squash into a roasting pan with oil and strip about 4 stalks of thyme of their leaves and sprinkle over the butternut squash. Roast for about 30-45 minutes or until tender. 4 Once out of the oven, remove the squash to a bowl and scatter the pecans and crumble the cheese over top, tossing everything together gently. 5 Check the seasonings and add the last couple stalks of thyme, torn into small sprigs to decorate.
Filed under dinner and eat and make by Kelly. . 6 Comments
  1. Kalyn Says:

    November 20th, 2008 at 10:34 pm

    Someone recently told me about this recipe on Twitter, so when I saw your photo I had to check it out. Definitely I’ll be making this!

  2. MyKitchenInHalfCups Says:

    November 21st, 2008 at 1:19 am

    That is really a beautiful dish for butternut and thyme. I’ll have to see which is doing the best in my garden when I get home and decide then which I use: thyme or sage. Blue cheese and butternut is just a classic. Have to try this one.

  3. cebelina Says:

    October 13th, 2009 at 11:18 pm

    Wonderful looking/sounding recipe. New take on the rather under appreciated squash. I look forward to making this. Thank you for sharing! Oh and isn’t that orange so beautiful!

  4. haley Says:

    November 25th, 2009 at 8:34 pm

    i loved this recipe a soon as i tasted one problem i had was that it said 4 butter nut sqash i was confused on if cups or reall thing make shure u know ur stuff if u make it

  5. haley Says:

    November 25th, 2009 at 8:34 pm

    but i had not tasted it

  6. Kelly Says:

    November 26th, 2009 at 7:14 am

    haley-
    thanks for pointing that out. i just added cups to the recipe.

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