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Caramelised Roasted Squash with Rosemary and Lemon

So simple and packed with so much flavour. The squash in the recipes is tossed with olive oil, lemon juice and maple syrup and roasted until soft and caramelised. Plus, fresh rosemary leaves on the top. Once roasted we add some more lemon juice and plenty of fresh lemon zest for some perkiness.

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We’ve capitalised on the natural sweetness of our favourite squash and enhanced it with maple syrup and rosemary which is pure gold with squash. 

This is great side dish along meat or fish dishes, but also can be hearthy meal on it's own served with some refreshing yogurt dip. Once roasted, the bright orange flesh becomes smooth and creamy, with a sweet, nutty and caramelised flavour.

These roasted squash is sweet, refreshing and aromatic at the same time. 

Which squash to use?

For this recipe you can use any squash you have on hand. We love kabocha squash (also known as Japanese pumpin), the one that have a blue-grey skin and yellow flash. It has great delicate flavour especially once they are roasted.

You can tweak the recipe and use pumpkin instead of squash. All pumpkins and squashes are versatile vegetable.

Also known as Japanese pumpkin, kabocha squash is a wonderfully versatile winter squash variety. We love to make the creamy soup from it, or turn it into healthy croquettes. It can be also blended into sauce for the pasta or roasted and combined with quinoa in hot salad dish.

Steps for making these delicious roasted squash wedges

Start with preparing the squash (the skin of kabocha squash is edible, so leave it on). Cutting the squash is not easier thing to do. 

For this you will need cutting board and really sturdy knife. Cut the squash into half, then scoop out the seeds using a metal spoon. Next, cut each half into quarters and each quarter into wedges around 2 cm thick. 

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Stir olive oil, lemon juice, maple syrup, salt and ground pepper in a small bowl. Chop finely fresh rosemary leaves, which will give nice aroma to the squash. 

Place the wedges into a large bowl, pour prepare mixture then using your hands rub it into the wedges.

Arrange wedges on the baking sheet (don't crown them, leave some space between each one). Sprinkle with chopped rosemary leaves.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, then flip each wedge and bake for another 10 minutes. The squash is ready when the flash is soft, caramelised. Pour some lemon juice over each wedge and zest the lemon zest.

Extra tricks for making perfect roasted squash

There are two keys to perfectly roasted squash: first, keep your oven temperature high to really caramelize the sugars in your veggies.

There are two keys to perfectly roasted veggies: First up, keep your oven temperature high to really caramelize the sugars in your veggies. Between 400°F and 450°F is a good range for roasting.

Secondly, don’t crowd your veggies in the oven by packing them too tightly onto your pan. Give them space to breathe on the baking sheet. If you don’t, you’ll steam your veggies instead of roasting them.