Roasted Butternut Squash and Pears

I'm a squash lover, my hubby is not. He also doesn't like sweet potatoes and I do. But I figure once in a while he should have to sit down and eat one of my dishes and try to enjoy it-since I do that for him when it comes to eating red meat. Not my particular favorite. Most years at our Thanksgiving celebration we have quite a crowd. We always do a potluck. For some reason one year we weren't having some 20-odd people and I was required to bring more than my traditional and famous mashed potatoes-What to do? What to do?

One day I was watching the food network and a recipe was being made, but I knew my husband wouldn't entertain eating it because the host mixed the butternut squash with the dreaded sweet potato. I also wanted to lighten up the calorie intake-being a lifelong healthy cook and eater. I tried this dish using some granny smith apples and it was also quite good, but even my hubby approved of this recipe with I tried it with some nice crisp bosc pears!

Low and behold! Not only did my husband like the combination, I had struck on what I could add to my part of the potluck for our Turkey dinner that year! It has become a regular in our fall vegetable line up of family approved side dishes.

It is a very easy recipe, but it does take require some patience-as the squash does take quite a bit of time in the oven. Depending on the size of your crowd, it's very easy to increase the amounts. This dish is low in both fat and calories, yet tastes quite rich. This recipe can serve up to 8 people.

Pre-heat your oven to 400

Line a baking sheet or two with foil for easy clean up. Spray with butter-flavored release agent (like Pam). You want enough room on the cookie sheets so that all the food has room to recieve an even amount of heat. I have an oven that has a convection capability on it. If you have this option-use it. If you don't, switch the placement (this is if you use more than one cookie sheet) of the pans half way through the roasting.

Ingredients:

2 small or 1 large butternut squash

2 bosc pears-cut in half and cored

2 tbsps each butter (or margarine) and honey

1 tsp. cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

salt and pepper

Pierce the squash a couple of times and place in microwave on high for five minutes. This will make it much easier (and safer) to cut it in half and seed.

Once this is done, place cut side up and coat with butter spray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. I like to use kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Place the prepared pears on the sheet and coat with the butter spray as well. Season with the salt and pepper. Roast in the oven until tender and caramelized. Depending on the size of the squash and pears, this could take between 30 minutes and an hour.

Once roasted, in batches, puree both ingredients with some of the honey, butter, cinnamon and nutmeg. I usually do it in two batches. Combine and place in serving dish.

This dish has just the right amount of savory and sweet, so it's easy to get the kids in the group to try it as well!