Butternut Squash Rose

The thing we love most about contemporary cuisine, is that someone took the time to take an old familiar favourite, and revamp it into something new and exciting- Add to that locally sourced produce, and we’re in love.

One theme that  seems to be recurring is simple or basic fresh ingredients  sculpted into flower shapes- think apple, potato and avocado roses. Unable to find one on Google, we figured we would try our hand at a butternut rose. It turned out to be super easy, and makes for a pretty good lookin’ pumpkin dish.

What made it even better, is that it stored really well when refrigerated. (We later used the left-overs for butternut risotto with browned butter and sage.)

We always look for butternuts with long necks – the bulbous ones are better for stuffing. The long neck makes for a good amount of solid fleshy pumpkin. That in turn, makes it ideal for this experiment…

Serves 6-8 side dishes

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 50 minutes

Peeled Butternut

Sliced butternut

Butternut Squash

Ingredients

• 1 Butternut
• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• salt
• Ground cinnamon
• Ground cumin
• Ground coriander
• 1 tsp Dried, ground ginger
• A couple of sprigs parsley for serving
• 1 cup Grated parmesan for serving

Instructions

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180°C / 350F.
2. Peel butternut, slice lengthways and scoop out seeds, and slice each half in thin, half moon discs.
3. In a round bowl, begin to arrange the discs (round side up) starting from the outside, working your way in. Overlap each slice by about 30-50%. Tip: save your thinnest slices for last, as they will be the most flexible when you get to the centre.
4. Sprinkle your completed rose with a light dusting of cinnamon, cumin, coriander, ginger and salt.
5. Cover the dish with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for a further 20-30 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft and cooked.
6. Remove from the oven and serve warm.

This dish can be reheated.

Note: The pumpkin may render some liquid in the bottom of the dish.