maple roasted squash with pomegranate and chestnuts

This is a wonderful side dish for winter or fall. The colors and flavors whisper warm fires and fuzzy sweaters. All the ingredients come together for a melding that sings in your mouth.

What makes it so great is that, while it looks festive and tastes amazing, it’s very quick and easy to put together. Perfect for holidays, when you’re making lots of other things, as well. Tonight, I’m making it as part of my menu for Parasha Vayera.

For the squash, use any variety of hard winter squash that you like. Butternut, acorn, buttercup, kabucha, and sugar pumpkin all work well.

Chestnuts keep it interesting with their own earthy flavor and texture. You can buy them fresh, score, cook, and peel them. Or save yourself the trouble and get them peeled and cooked in these little packets that keep for a long time in the pantry. For me, they’re a pantry staple.

Cinnamon and nutmeg are a match made in heaven, and garlic adds a savory note.

Rosemary adds the welcome flavor and scent of pine.

Pomegranate arils add a juicy tartness that balances all the other flavors, and adds a pop of color, as well.

Pure maple syrup, one of the best flavors on earth, causes everything to caramelize beautifully with its silky sweetness.

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds of the hard winter squash of your choice, cut in half, seeds and “hairy stuff” removed with a spoon, and cut into 1” pieces. You can peel the squash if you’d like to, but it’s really not necessary. The skin gives it a nice rustic look. If the skin is tender, you can eat it. If it’s tough, just cut it away while you’re eating, as you would with a potato.

• 5 ounces or so cooked and peeled chestnuts

• 2—3 tablespoons maple syrup

• 2 tablespoons good olive oil

• ¾ teaspoon cinnamon

• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg (freshly grated is best)

• 1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves

• 1—2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced

• kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

• Optional: ½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper, if you’d like to add some heat

• pomegranate arils, as much as you’d like

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 400°

• In a large bowl, combine the syrup, the olive oil, the cinnamon, the nutmeg, the garlic, and the rosemary. Mix well.

• Add the cut squash and the chestnuts to the bowl and, using your hands, toss it all together until the squash and chestnuts are evenly coated with the maple mixture.

• Line a baking pan, or two depending upon their size, with parchment paper. turn out the contents of the bowl onto the pan(s), distributing the pieces evenly in a single layer. Sprinkle them lightly with salt and pepper, and with the Aleppo pepper if using.

• Roast the squash and chestnuts for about 25 minutes, or until the squash is tender and beginning to caramelize at the edges.

• Transfer the squash and chestnuts to a serving platter and sprinkle with the pomegranate arils.