Roasted honeynut squash halves make perfect individual portions and add an adorable, seasonal dish to your holiday table! Paired with Smokey Pomegranate Sauce, this recipe is sure to impress. 

I am in love with honeynut squash this fall! When I first saw them, I immediately squealed in cuteness overload, and despite having a pantry full of winter squash from my own garden, added them to my cart. These deeply orange, petite squash are fairly new to the market, it turns out. Some quick research revealed that they are a hybrid developed by Cornell University plant breeders in collaboration with Chef Dan Barber. Honeynut squash were developed specifically for their flavor, and it does not disappoint. Once roasted, the honeynut squash have a nutty, earthy, malty sweet flavor. For me, it’s the texture that sets them apart from other winter squash - the flesh is firm yet silky, with less water than other winter squash varieties. These are definitely being planted in my garden next year!

I paired my roasted honeynut squash with Smokey Pomegranate Sauce, inspired by a Middle Eastern dish known as muhammara, Muhammara is a dip made from roasted red peppers, walnuts, and pomegranate molasses. It’s sweet and spicy and tangy - just an incredible blend of flavors! Muhammara is traditionally made with aleppo pepper, but I’ve swapped in a pantry-staple ingredient, smoked paprika. The smoked paprika adds to the smokiness of the roasted red peppers, and it’s a flavor I can’t get enough of. 

The one unusual ingredient here is the pomegranate molasses - and it’s worth seeking out. This sauce is not the same without it! I have found pomegranate molasses at my local natural foods store, but you may also find it in an international aisle of larger grocery stores. (Or you can make your own by reducing pomegranate juice into a thick syrup - that’s really all it is!) Once you have your pomegranate molasses, try adding it to vinaigrettes for salad, stirring it into hummus, or adding it to sparking water to make you own soda. 

I hope you’ll try these Roasted Honeynut Squash with Smokey Pomegranate Sauce for your next holiday dinner! They’re sure to please a variety of palates, from meat-eaters and omnivores, to plant-based and vegan friends alike. Use leftover Smokey Pomegranate Sauce as a spread on a sandwich (so good on a grilled cheese!), or as a dip with crackers or vegetables. 

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