Baked “Goldie” Squash Rings With Pine Nuts And Garlic

While shopping in Whole Foods the other day, I spotted a beautiful looking squash. It looked like an ordinary acorn squash to me (and it probably was just an ordinary acorn squash), but its label read “Organic ‘Goldie’ Squash.” Although I thought that this type of squash was of the fall/winter variety, I bought it anyway. When I got home, I googled the “Goldie” (say that 10 times) and found out that the “Goldie” is a summer squash with a sweet buttery flavor.

I was really craving squash (I’m not kidding!!) and went through some old cookbooks to figure out how I wanted to prepare it. I adapted this recipe from The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook which I bought many years ago at Costco. The recipe is simple and surprisingly amazing!!!

BAKED “GOLDIE” SQUASH WITH PINE NUTS AND GARLIC

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 large “Goldie” squash or 2 small acorn squashes (about 2 lbs total weight)

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 garlic cloves, halved

1 tablespoon pine nuts

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a shallow dish or baking sheet with cooking spray. Cut the squash into 1/2 inch thick rings (TIP: for easier cutting, microwave whole unpeeled squash for 3 to 5 minutes) leaving the peel intact. Scrape the seeds out of the center of each ring and discard. Place rings in the prepared baking dish in a single layer and brush them with 1 1/2 teaspoons of oil (I sprayed the rings with olive oil from a MISTO sprayer), and sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon of the salt. Bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, toss the garlic with the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons of olive oil.

Sprinkle the garlic, olive oil and pine nuts evenly over the squash rings and continue baking until the squash is tender and the pine nuts are lightly browned, about 10-15 minutes longer.

Season with the remaining salt and pepper. Serve immediately.