This hasselback butternut squash pumpkin recipe takes the hassle out of baking a whole squash. Served with browned butter with sage and pine nuts, simply delicious.
Copious amounts of browned butter, toasted pine nuts and crispy sage. This is my number one flavour combination when it comes to pumpkin. The sweet notes pumpkin acquires when baked pairs so well with that particularly nutty combination. The browned butter adds even more flavour depth.
Visually, hasselback butternut squash is a great dish served to the table for people to help themselves. This makes it a wonderful dish when entertaining.
Generally, you will see recipes with pumpkins sliced from the back, the rounded side. Makes sense, it’s easier. I prefer seeing the cut side of the pumpkin showing, the side that has the cavity where the seeds were. It’s the more interesting side of the pumpkin. Plus, the cavity makes a great collection area for the pine nuts and sage.
If you can find small whole butternut squash/pumpkins, grab them! A collection of smaller hasselback squash/pumpkins on a serving plate, or baking dish, looks stylish.
Leave the skin on or take the skin off? That is a personal decision. For this particular recipe I left the skin on. Butternut pumpkin skin is thin. One of few times having thin skin is an attribute.
The skin is edible, but will your guests enjoy it? Josh will scrape every trace of sweet pumpkin flesh from the skin. Where I’ll eat the lot. If you do serve it skin on, turn a blind eye to your guests eating preferences.
The recipe is an easy one. Pumpkins are baked in the oven in their hasselback form, simply rubbed with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Butter is browned in a small frypan with pine nuts and sage. The butter mixture is then spooned over the cooked pumpkins and then served.
Hasselback Butternut Squash Pressure Points
Take care when cutting slits into your pumpkins. My hasselback potato trick won’t work with pumpkins if you are slicing into them cut side up. Take your knife and place it near the end of the pumpkin.
Take note of the cut pumpkin height compared to the knife height. Then you will know how far to cut down, and not through the pumpkin. By taking into consideration how far your knife blade can slice into the pumpkin before cutting through.
Special Ingredients for the Recipe
What to do with leftovers?
The beauty of this hasselback butternut squash recipe are the common ingredients that we all know and love. Browned butter is the bomb!
Keep leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container. Delicious cold and added to salads or warmed and eaten as is.
Sara xxx
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More Delicious Sides
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Stuffed Onions with Parmesan & Cream – you’ll become addicted!
Bacon Fat Potatoes – because everything is better with bacon
Spatzle – German noodle love
PIN ME TO EAT ME LATER
Hasselback Pumpkin with Sage, Pine Nuts & Butter
Ingredients
- 1 Butternut Pumpkin
- 20 ml (1 tablespoon) olive oil
- 42 grams (3 tablespoons) butter
- 1 bunch sage
- 65 grams (1/2 cup) pine nuts
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven 180°C (350°F) and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Cut pumpkin in half lengthwise and de-seed. Also remove pumpkin skin if desired.
- Place pumpkin on cutting board cut side up. Using a sharp knife cut slices into the pumpkin not cutting all the way through.
- Rub cut pumpkin liberally with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
- Place in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until tender and cooked through. Cover with foil and set aside.
- Melt butter in a pan. Once butter has melted and starts to bubble add pine nuts and sage.
- Cook pine nuts and sage until nuts have started to brown and sage is crispy.
- Pour pine nut butter mixture over hasselback pumpkin halves and serve immediately.
Cathy Lee
I made this for Christmas. I did take the skin off the pumpkin, but it was a huge success. Really delicious and was great as part of our Christmas Day dinner.
maria
Love this idea, such a nice side dish!
Helen | Grab Your Fork
Love this idea. And all those pine nuts!
Pat @ Wholesome Kitchen
I Liked this, I will be making soon!
Sara
Fantastic to hear Pat, I really hope you enjoyed it.