It might still be warm in Southern California, but it’s still the time of year for all things pumpkin, including the many varieties of winter squashes with their autumnal orange flesh. Save your jack-o-lantern for display purposes, and instead use a butternut squash with a long neck and prepare it hasselback style.
Hasselback, most often seen with potatoes, is a technique of cutting the vegetable in thin slices, but not all the way through. In this way, whatever glaze you choose as flavoring will penetrate and allow the squash to caramelize throughout. It’s an impressive presentation. Because butternut squash is so sturdy, I prefer Chef Michael Symon’s method of first halving the vegetable, scooping out the seeds, then peeling it, and baking it cut side up just until it’s soft enough to cut the slices easily. Then you remove it from the oven, and make your thin hasselback slices, pour on the butter, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar flavoring, and return it to the oven to finish cooking and get nice and golden.
But the beauty of the dish is that it’s so easily customizable. Butternut squash pairs with a variety of flavors, so feel free to give it a rubdown with harissa, or tuck prosciutto in between the slices of squash, or make a glaze with butter and honey or pomegranate molasses. Once you know the technique and cooking time, it’s easy to get creative.
Pati Jinich’s pepita (pumpkin seed) brittle is a great candy to make for fall. Photo courtesy of Pati Jinich.
I grew up with a mother who would take the pumpkin seed from the inside of the pumpkin we were carving, clean them up and then roast them for later. Nibbling on pumpkin seeds is such a treat, but now that we can easily buy the seeds out of the shell, why not make brittle with them? Brittle is an excellent entree to making candy. It’s helpful to have a candy thermometer, so that you can properly identify the “hard crack” stage that will give your brittle the proper texture.
I turned to the Mexican TV star and cookbook author Pati Jinich for her recipe for pepita brittle. It has the flavors of both the dark Mexican sugar piloncillo, which adds a ton of character, as well as regular brown sugar. I think it’s a perfect Halloween candy, perhaps not to give out at the door, but definitely to enjoy with friends and family. Keep your dentist on speed dial. To ensure a better brittle, Jinich lightly toasts the pumpkin seeds first to bring out their woodsy aroma.