Wait, what?!
Are you sitting down?
Surprise #1: Sweet and sour isn’t just for Asian food. Many cultures discovered the culinary joy of sweet and sour flavors brought together. Italian Agrodolce combines vinegar with sugar or honey and often includes dried fruit. It’s a perfect pairing for winter vegetables like squash, carrots and sweet potatoes, as well as meats like chicken and pork, or rich salmon.
Surprise #2: Not all squash need to be peeled. You love winter squash but don’t want to do all of that laborious peeling and the pre-cubed Butternut at the grocery store leaves you wanting rich Kabocha and Kuri, and sweet, light Delicata. Good news! These thin-skinned squash need no peeling. Once roasted or steamed the skins become tender enough to eat!
Surprise #3: You get to enjoy the first two surprises together combining thin-skinned, roasted winter squash with sweet and sour Italian Agrodolce.
Roasted squash with agrodolce sauce
Serves 6-8
Sweet and sour isn’t just for Asian food. Agrodolce, an Italian sweet and sour sauce made by reducing honey and vinegar with dried fruit elevates already delicious roasted winter squash into a side dish simple enough for a weeknight dinner and special enough for a holiday celebration.
Ingredients:
1 medium Kabocha, Delicata or other small squash, seeded and cut in 3/4” slices
2 tbs olive oil
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup chopped yellow raisins
1 shallot, thinly sliced
Pinch red pepper flakes
Directions:
Roast squash: Preheat oven to 425°F. On a rimmed sheet pan, toss squash with olive oil and a pinch or two of salt. Place in oven and roast until tender, about 25 minutes.
Make agrodolce sauce: Combine vinegar, honey, raisins, shallot and red pepper flakes with a pinch of salt in a 2 quart sauce pan. Bring to a boil over med-high heat watching carefully so it doesn’t bubble over. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until about the thickness of maple syrup. Remove from heat. Season to taste with additional vinegar or honey as needed.
To serve, drizzle sauce over squash.
TIP: Small winter squash like Kuri, Delicata and Kabocha — available all winter long at your farmers market — have thin skins that turn tender enough to eat when you cook them. This saves you the work of peeling them.
