Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Food

Baked Butternut Squash with Onion Caramel

Serves: 4
Original recipe: Page 54-55 The Chef’s Garden By Farmer Lee Jones
Kosher issue: Meat and dairy
Recipe adapted by: Chef Jordana Hirschel

This recipe called for cornish hens glazed with a buttery onion caramel. After speaking with Chef Jamie Simpson, I learned that the focus of the dish was not chicken itself, but the onion caramel. In keeping with this highlight, I have chosen to use a butternut squash in place of the hen — the results were fabulous.

Ingredients

1 large butternut squash, halved lengthwise
¼ cup Onion Caramel (recipe follows)
Kosher salt, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Fill a large roasting pan with ½ inch of water.
2. Place squash, cut side down, into the roasting pan. Cover tightly and cook until fork tender, about 1½ hours. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with a cooling rack. While still warm, remove seeds and peel. Alternatively, peel butternut squash before roasting.
3. Turn the broiler to high and set an oven rack closest to the heat source. Brush squash with onion caramel and broil until golden, about 2 minutes. Brush again with onion caramel and continue to broil, until just beginning to char. Lightly season with salt before serving.

For the Onion Caramel
2½ pounds (1.1 kg) sweet onions, coarsely chopped
½ cup (100 g) sugar
½ cup (1 stick or 110 g) unsalted butter, diced
⅓ cup (80 ml) heavy cream
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions
1. Using a juicer, juice the onions, then strain through a fine-mesh strainer. Alternatively, purée onions in a blender or food processor and force the purée through a strainer. You should have about 1½ cups of juice, but it’s okay if there’s more because the liquid will evaporate.
2. Transfer juice to a 2-quart saucepan and have a thermometer on hand. Add sugar and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until sugar is dissolved. Simmer, stirring, until temperature reaches 240℉, then remove from heat and let rest for 1 minute.
3. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, whisking until it’s incorporated before adding the next cube. Slowly whisk in cream and salt until fully incorporated. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 month.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.