Hasselback Butternut Squash With Sage Brown Butter

Gluten-free hasselback butternut squash with sage brown butter made with butternut squash, olive oil and unsalted butter

Hasselback butternut squash is the side dish that makes people ask what it is. The neck of the squash is sliced into thin accordion folds, roasted until the edges caramelize, and basted with brown butter, sage and a spoonful of honey. Every ingredient is gluten-free by nature, so there are no flour swaps to think about. The work is all in the knife.

Use the neck, save the bulb

A butternut squash has a long solid neck and a round bulb full of seeds. Only the neck slices into even folds, so cut it away from the bulb and halve it lengthwise. Save the bulb for soup or roasting in cubes later in the week. Peel the neck before you slice it, and scoop out any seeds at the top.

Soften it before you slice

Raw butternut squash is hard, and hard squash under a knife is how fingers get cut. The gfcooking.food recipe microwaves the two halves, covered, for 4 to 5 minutes first. That softens the outside enough for the knife to glide through, but leaves the center firm so the slices hold their shape.

The chopstick trick

Lay each half cut side down on the board with a chopstick along each long side. Slice straight down every 1/8 inch. The chopsticks stop the knife before it goes all the way through, so the slices stay joined at the base. If a slice does break off, tuck it back in. Nobody will notice once the butter goes on.

Roast in two stages

Brush the halves with olive oil, season with half the salt and pepper, and roast at 400F for 30 minutes. This first round cooks the squash through and opens the slices a little, which gives the butter somewhere to go.

While it roasts, melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat and add the sage leaves. Swirl it until the butter smells nutty and the milk solids at the bottom turn golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. Watch it closely, because brown butter turns to burnt butter in under a minute. Take it off the heat and stir in the honey, a pinch of nutmeg and the rest of the salt.

Brush half of that butter over the squash, letting it run down between the slices, and roast for another 25 to 30 minutes. Brush once more halfway through. It is done when a knife slides in easily and the edges of the folds look dark and caramelized.

Finish with crunch

Top the squash with the crisp sage leaves from the butter and a scattering of toasted pumpkin seeds. Seeds and nuts are often packed on lines that also handle wheat products, so look for pumpkin seeds labeled gluten-free. The same goes for ground nutmeg if your jar is a blend.

Plan it into a holiday oven

The whole dish takes about an hour and a half, most of it hands-off. If oven space is tight on a holiday, roast the first 30 minutes earlier in the day, then finish the brown butter stage while the main dish rests. It serves 6 as a side.

The full ingredient amounts and step-by-step method are on GF Cooking: get the hasselback butternut squash recipe here.

Always check ingredient labels yourself, especially on seeds, nuts and spices. Formulas change, and the label on the package in your hand is the one to trust. In the US, products labeled gluten-free must contain less than 20 parts per million of gluten under FDA rules.

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