About a month ago I bought a 5 kg bucket of tahini. The amount of hummus or any other Mediterranean / Middle Eastern dip I made for my caterings that contains tahini exceeded all sorts of expectations and in the end when I saw that huge bucket, I just took it. And I already used more than half of it! And so here is one more dip / spread with tahini for you today. For this one, tahini meets butternut squash.

 

 

 

I must admit, I love the shape of butternut squash and I love holding it in my hand. It is so cute! But anyway, aside from the cute shape, it’s also very tasty. And yet, it is again one of those veggies that I do not use often for some reason – like the sweet potato in my previous recipe.

 

 

So when I got Yotam Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem book a few weeks ago, the first recipe I wanted to try was this one, to remember to buy and use butternut squash for a change. The spread has a nice, sweet taste to it and as anything else that has tahini, it is absolutely delicious. Just spread on a crusty fresh bread and you’ll be in heaven. Enjoy!
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Ingredients:

 

Difficulty:  ★☆☆ (Easy)
(serves 4-6)

 

Printable PDF-recipe (no photos)

 

1 butternut squash (about 1.2 kg before peeled), peeled and diced
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt, and more to taste in the end if needed
120 gr. plain yogurt
70 gr. tahini (I like using light tahini and not the thick, dark one)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp black and white sesame seeds
1.5 tsp maple syrup (the second time I did, I used grape molasses and it was great too!)

 

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1. Preheat the oven to 200C.

 

2. In a bowl, mix butternut squash, olive oil, cinnamon and salt. Spread the mixture on an oven tray with a baking paper. Spread evenly as one layer. Any bits of oily sauce left in the bowl, pour it on butternut squash pieces. Put in the oven, in medium rack.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Roast the butternut squash mixture in the oven for 40-45 minutes, until it is tender. Take out of the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes.

 

 

4. In a food processor, put roasted butternut squash, yogurt, tahini and garlic and process until you have a slightly smooth paste. It is nice to leave a bit texture so I recommend not to make a too creamy smooth mixture.

 

 

 

 

 

5. Put the mixture in a serving bowl, drizzle syrup / molasses and spread sesame seeds on top. Serve soon after preparation, with nice crusty bread. Enjoy!