For a long time, an embarrassingly long time, my main kitchen knife was a dull one. It was not a quality knife and it made prep work very, very unpleasant. It wasn’t until I took a knife class at the ICE that I realized what I’d been missing out on all this time. Teeny tiny julienned carrots? Easy! The smallest, most uniform garlic dice you’ve ever seen? No problem! I was a chopping machine.
This year, my sister bought me a gleaming new chef knife for Christmas. Suddenly, recipes that I normally would have subconsciously avoided because of the amount of prep they required are no big deal. This one-pot Moroccan dish is the perfect example. Halving a kabocha squash and thinly slicing two pounds of onions into rings? Yikes! But with my new knife, I breezed right through both.
I bought myself Paula Wolfert’s beautiful book The Food of Morocco a few months ago but hadn’t gotten around to cooking from it yet, probably because of my enthusiasm (just a euphemism for addiction?) for collecting cookbooks. And though I have never been to Morocco, this dish sure tasted like I just went!
This is a great recipe for the winter months when you’re looking for ways to brighten up the heavy root vegetables that are in season. Plus, it’s filled with warming flavors like deeply browned onions, cinnamon and raisins. Despite these sweet-sounding ingredients, the dish has a very balanced flavor thanks to nuts, parsley and salt.
Lamb would be a great accompaniment to this dish if you are someone who likes meat with every meal. I was happy to pair this with couscous and call it a vegetarian dinner.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds kabocha, butternut or calabaza squash, halved lengthwise and seeded (I used kabocha)
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil1/2 cup slivered almonds
- 2 pounds onions, thinly sliced into rounds
- Salt
- 1/3 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I used Vietnamese cinnamon because I just happen to be into it at the moment but regular works here)
- 1/2 cup raisins
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Place the squash cut side down on a rimmed baking sheet. Add 1/4 cup water, cover with aluminum foil and bake until the squash is very soft, 30-40 minutes. Remove from the oven, and once cool enough to handle, scoop out the pulp and set aside.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet (I used an enameled cast iron braiser since it works well when browning things). Toss in the almonds and cook until golden. With a slotted spoon, remove to a plate and set aside.
- Sauté the onions in the same pan over medium heat until translucent. Add salt to taste (don't be afraid to salt this dish!), 2 tablespoons of the parsley, sugar, cinnamon and raisins, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for about 30 more minutes, until the onions are caramelized.
- Gently fold the onions into the squash. Season with pepper and more salt, if necessary, and sprinkle with the remaining parsley and almonds. Serve warm.
Notes
Adapted from The Food of Morocco
January 3, 2014 at 1:44 am
What brand of knife?!
January 3, 2014 at 7:08 pm
Deb- it is a Zwilling 8″ chef knife. But I also love the Wusthof of the same size, it is a little more rounded.
February 11, 2014 at 4:19 pm
I want to make this!