I Roasted Squash and I Liked It

Inspired by a coworker, I decided to buy a butternut squash and take it for a spin in the oven this weekend.  It's Hallowe'en soon, and I'm feeling rather festive, so why the heck not?  I found an incredible amount of butternut squash soup recipes, but I kind of wanted to try my hand at it as a solid first.  I beckoned, my faithful Facebook friends answered with delicious sounding recipes.  I wanted to try them all, so I decided to combine them.  Below is the recipe for a delicious squash.  Make one and eat it with a friend or lover (or enemy, poisoning one half to taste).

You will need:

• 1 butternut squash
• butter/margarine
• ground cinnamon
• ground nutmeg
• salt and black pepper
• maple syrup
• crushed pecans or walnuts, roasted walnuts (optional)
• brown sugar (optional, but I imagine delicious!)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Wash then cut butternut squash in half (CAREFULLY) lengthwise and scoop out the holes of seeds and fibres.
3. Place cut side up in a baking pan of about 3/4 an inch of water.
4. Glaze with butter/margarine lightly on the meat and in the scooped out holes.
5. Fill holes about 1/3 of the way with maple syrup.
6. Sprinkle a bit of nutmeg and cinnamon (not even half a tsp each works well) onto each half and brush across the squash.  Do the same with even less salt and pepper (or salt and pepper to taste, if you're feeling crazy).
7. For those more ambitious than I am, try to brush on a bit of brown sugar too.
8. Put in the oven for about 65 minutes, testing with a fork every half hour.  Squash should look golden brown, feel tender and squashy, and smell like a dream.  
9. Sprinkle on crushed pecans or walnuts, or try roasted walnuts.  Serves two (or three if you're not big eaters), and some people even use it as a side (not me).

Try it out and never be afraid to add your own variations.  In fact, if you have any squash recipes you'd like to share (involving butternut or other squash) please leave me a comment with a link or the recipe itself.  Enjoy!