I had a kuri squash rattling around in my pantry left from a recent foray to the local Farmer’s Market. I love the deep saturated color of that squash and it needed to be used while it was at its peak.
This recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty More for Squash With Chile Yogurt and Cilantro Sauce turned out to be a perfect recipe to feature my pretty kuri.
This is a beautiful dish–brilliant orange reds from the squash, bright greens from the cilantro sauce and the promise of creaminess from the chile yogurt sauce. A feast for your eyes!
I confess that I used to avoid hard squash preparations because squash like kuri, acorn, and butternut are so difficult (and sometimes dangerous) to slice and peel. At some point in my cooking, it occurred to me to put the squash in the microwave for a couple of minutes to soften (but not cook) it. That made all the difference. No more squash terror in my kitchen!
This is a recipe from Yotam Ollotenghi’s Plenty More . You can buy the book through your local bookstore or on Amazon here,
This is a wonderful cookbook–one of my favorites in my collection of hundreds of cookbooks (I know. There are all kinds of addictions. Mine is cookbooks.)
Here is the recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen.
Kuri Squash With Chile Yogurt and Cilantro Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 large kuri squash
- 1 t. ground cinnamon
- 6 T. olive oil
- Salt
- 2 oz. cilantro (leaves and stems)
- 1 clove garlic
- 2-3 T. pumpkin seeds
- 1 C. Greek yogurt
- 2 t. Sriracha sauce
- Salt and black pepper (to taste)
Directions
- Step 1 Microwave the whole squash for a minute or so to make the cutting easier (and safer!). Peel the squash and slice. Toss the squash in a mixture of the cinnamon, 2 T. olive oil and 3/4 t. salt. Toss to evenly coat. Line a baking sheet with parchment and arrange the squash slices on top of the parchment. Roast at 425 degrees F. for about 30 minutes until the squash soft but not falling apart. Your squash should also begin to color a bit. (This makes for a prettier dish.) Remove from the oven and set the squash aside to cool.
- Step 2 Prepare the cilantro paste by combining the cilantro, a pinch of salt, garlic and 4 T. olive oil in the bowl of your food processor. Process until you have a fine paste. If you need to add a bit more oil to liquify your paste add it in. You don’t want a runny sauce but it should hold together when you put dollops of the sauce on your finished dish. Set aside.
- Step 3 Roast the pumpkin seeds in a 350 degree F. oven for about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- Step 4 Assemble your dish just before serving. Arrange the roasted kuri squash slices attractively on your serving dish. Mix the Sriracha and yogurt and drizzle it over the squash. (You can adjust the amount of Sriracha in your yogurt to your taste. You want to taste the chiles in the sauce but you want the flavor to be somewhat subtle.) Put dollops of the cilantro sauce on top of the squash and yogurt sauce. Scatter roasted pumpkin seeds on top and a few more cilantro leaves. I threw on a thyme sprig and drizzled a few additional drops of Sriracha on the dish for decoration. Serve and enjoy.
