Roasted Acorn Squash with Brown Butter, Yogurt and Pomegranate

Yield: 4 servings

• 1 large acorn squash (Starry Night is my favorite). Kabocha squash is also a great substitute.
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 8 sage leaves
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Whole milk plain yogurt, for serving
• Pomegranate seeds, for serving

Step 1:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a small baking dish with parchment paper. Cut the squash in half, scoop out all of the seeds, rub with olive oil and season liberally with salt, place the squash cut side down on the prepared sheet pan. Bake until the squash feels totally soft when you touch it, maybe 1 ½ hours, let it cool on the pan until you can handle it.

Step 2:

Using a metal spoon, scoop out the flesh of the squash into a large bowl, add a big pinch of salt and set aside. In a medium, high sided pot, brown the butter over medium high heat, scraping the milk solids off the bottom of the pan as it browns. Once it is a very dark brown (but not black), turn off the heat and throw in the sage leaves and stir to fry the leaves, stop the cooking by adding the lemon juice. Be careful because the butter will bubble up, add a pinch of salt and pour the whole thing into the bowl with the squash. Stir the butter vigorously into the squash, crushing up the sage leaves so they speckle the orange flesh, taste for salt (it needs a lot because the squash is so sweet).

Step 3:

Spoon the squash into a serving bowl, leaving an indent in the middle. Add a puddle of yogurt in the center and generously sprinkle the pomegranate seeds over everything. Garnish with chopped parsley, mint or even chrysanthemum greens.