This recipe for crostini with roasted butternut squash puree and toasted walnuts is
perfect for a warm, fall-themed appetizer. This would also work wonderfully as a
pre- or post-Thanksgiving dinner snack.
You can serve the crostini up on a large platter, and encourage your guests to pick
them up and eat them with their hands.
The following recipe provides roughly 16 crostini.
Crostini with Roasted Butternut Squash and Walnuts
This recipe for crostini with roasted butternut squash puree and toasted walnuts isperfect for a warm, fall-themed appetizer. This would also work wonderfully as apre- or post-Thanksgiving dinner snack.You can serve the crostini up on a large platter, and encourage your guests to pickthem up and eat them with their hands.The following recipe provides roughly 16 crostini.
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash (cut in half, core removed)
- 1 Tbsp sunflower seed oil (for oiling the squash)
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 4 Tbsp ½ stick unsalted butter, softened
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- Kosher salt & freshly-ground black pepper (to taste)
- ½ cup walnuts (lightly toasted)
- 1 loaf of French bread (cut into 16 small slices)
- 3 Tbsp olive oil (for brushing on the sliced bread)
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (for drizzling on crostini before serving)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400˚F.
- Cut the butternut squash in half, length-wise, exposing the center core.
- Use a heavy spoon to remove the softer core section with the seeds and stringy
- pulp.
- Oil the squash halves on all sides, including the skin, and lightly sprinkle the inside
- with Kosher salt.
- Place the oiled squash halves on a parchment paper-lined sheet tray, with the skin
- side of the butternut squash facing up.
- Roast the squash at 400˚F for roughly 50 minutes, or until the squash is tender
- when you poke through it with a sharp knife.
- When the squash is fully cooked, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool at
- room temperature for ten minutes.
- *Leave the oven on, at 400˚F.
- When the squash is cool enough to handle, carefully peel off and discard the skin.
- Transfer the roasted squash flesh to a large mixing bowl, along with the unsalted
- softened butter and the brown sugar.
- Mash the components together with a potato masher or fork until the mixture
- reaches a uniform consistency.
- Taste, and season with Kosher salt & freshly-ground black pepper.
- Toast the walnuts in a dry pan on medium-low heat until warmed through and
- aromatic, and then set the walnuts aside in a bowl to cool down.
- *Try to avoid burning your walnuts!
- Cut the loaf of French bread into roughly 16 slices.
- Brush the olive oil on the sliced bread, and toast the bread in the oven on a
- parchment paper-lined sheet tray at 400˚F for roughly 7 minutes, or until the
- outside of the bread is lightly toasted.
- Remove the toasted bread slices from the oven, and arrange them on a large
- serving platter.
- Carefully place small scoops of the roasted squash puree on top of each slice of the
- toasted bread, followed by the toasted walnuts.
- Drizzle the assembled crostini with a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil before
- serving.
Notes
I prefer to serve these with a warm roasted squash puree on top, although you can
make the puree in advance, cool it down, and reheat it gently before assembling
your crostini.
make the puree in advance, cool it down, and reheat it gently before assembling
your crostini.