Seasonal Ontario Food

Eeek! I forgot to take a picture of this dish. Fortunately, one of my shots of the ham had quite a bit of the squash in it as well, and with a bit of judicious cropping you can get the general idea.

This is a bit sweeter than most of my squash dishes, but it makes a nice change.

4 servings
1 hour - 20 minutes prep time


1 kilogram (2 1/4 pounds) butternut squash
2 tablespoons walnut, hazelnut or almond oil
1 teaspoon black peppercorns, coarsely crushed
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3 large ripe pears, Bosc or Bartlett
3 tablespoons maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Remove the seeds from the squash, and peel it. This was half of a very large squash, if you are wondering. Cut it into 1 centimetre slices, and toss it with the oil, pepper, salt and nutmeg in a large shallow roasting pan, such as a lasagne pan.

Peel the pears, core them, and cut them in eighths, and toss them in with the squash. Drizzle the maple syrup over them. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, until tender and perhaps a little browned around the edges.