Butternut Squash Blossom

Just look at this! Won’t you agree that this could easily be the most eye catching of all your holiday dishes? Make this your Thanksgiving centerpiece and wow your family and guests this year.

Best thing about this Blossom is it’s Quick, Pretty and Delicious!!

Don’t you think that every Thanksgiving you should make at least one dish that you haven’t tried before? How about this gorgeous looking Butternut Squash Blossom!

I found this beauty in an old Southern Living magazine. It looks so fresh and different compared to the creamy cheesy squash casseroles that you are so used to seeing…

Check out our collection of favorite Butternut Squash Recipes!

Umm, nothing wrong with those, in fact I have a great yellow squash casserole coming for you very soon. But I couldn’t help to churn out this one for you first!!

Another great thing about this blossom is that it has shortest ingredient list. Most of you might already have everything in your pantry, just buy that butternut squash next time you go grocery shopping.

Let’s get this Blossom going…

You can make this in an oven-safe skillet or a round 8 to 10 inch baking dish or casserole. I am using a 1.5 pound butternut squash, peeled and cut it in half lengthwise, seeds removed.

Then you need to soften it a little bit so you can easily cut the flower petals from the squash. Place the squash halves, face down, in a baking dish filled with 1 inch of water. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 5 minutes.

That way it’s a little softer to cut nice thin slices. Ideally, you want your slices about 1/8 of an inch thick.

Before you assemble your blossom, you want some kind of flavoring mixture to top and drizzle over these petals. How about something with bacon and maple syrup? This dish has started sounding interesting, hasn’t it? We love the sound of anything that has bacon.

In a skillet, fry your bacon until golden brown. Remove, crumble and set aside.

Add chopped onions to the bacon drippings and cook until translucent. Mix in olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper, and half of the maple syrup. Stir on for few seconds then pour this mixture over squash slices and toss well.

Now all that is remaining is arrange the squash slices into a blossom and bake it… simple, huh?

First, set your oven to pre-heat to 400°F. Then, starting from the outer edge of your skillet or round casserole, arrange the squash slices in slightly overlapping concentric circles to make the flower blossom shape.

Early in the process the slices will slip a bit, hang in there, it will be worth it! Don’t worry about perfection, once the blossom is complete you can easily make adjustments here and there.

Once your flower is arranged, stick it in the oven and bake until the squash is tender and its edges begin to crisp, about 40-45 minutes. Keep checking the last few minutes to get the perfect amount of browning.

Once it’s out, drizzle the remaining half of your maple syrup, sprinkle bacon and voila… you have one gorgeous dish on table.

If you compare the amount of work that goes into this dish to the prettiness of what you can achieve, you are going to get mighty impressed of your own handy work!!

Let me know if you try it out this coming holiday season, and do subscribe to my Gypsyplate so plenty more interesting recipes keep coming your way!!

Butternut Squash Blossom, on my Gypsy Plate… Enjoy!!!

Try these other great dishes this holiday season!
Lazy Sweet Potato Mash
Pork Pinwheels with Zucchinicce
Fruity Nutty Crispy Brussels Sprouts
Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Streusel
Thanksgiving Kale Salad
Green Rice Casserole
Succotash
Creamed Peas with Pearl Onions
Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Butternut Squash Blossom

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

This gorgeous Butternut Squash Blossom will be the new star on your Thanksgiving or Christmas spread. Not only will it be the prettiest dish on the table, the flavors are absolutely amazing (psst, it has bacon!).

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Ingredients

• 1 (1 &1/2 lbs) butternut squash, peeled and halved lengthwise, seeds removed
• 1/2 cup diced onions
• 4 tsp maple syrup, divided
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme chopped
• 4 bacon slices
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 400°F.
2. Peel squash and cut in half lengthwise. Remove seeds. Place cut side down in a dish and add 1 inch water. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 5 minutes.
3. Fry bacon until crispy, about 5 minutes. Remove, crumble and set aside.
4. Chop onion and fry in bacon grease until translucent. Mix in olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper, and half of the maple syrup.
5. Slice squash into approximately ⅛ in slices and put in large bowl. Pour onion mixture over squash slices and toss well.
6. Starting from the outer edge of your skillet or round casserole, arrange the squash slices in slightly overlapping concentric circles to make the flower blossom shape.
7. Bake blossom for 40-45 minutes until squash is tender and you have slight browning around the edges ad remove from oven.
8. Drizzle over remaining maple syrup and sprinkle on crumbled bacon.

Nutrition Information

Yield 6 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 104Total Fat 7gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 8mgSodium 228mgCarbohydrates 6gFiber 1gSugar 4gProtein 3g

Nutrition information calculated by Nutritionix.

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Welcome to GypsyPlate! I'm Alpana, former wordwide tour manager and professional caterer, now full time blogger. I love exploring cuisines from around the world, and my recipes have been featured on sites such as MSN, Parade, Brit + Co, CNET and AOL. You can explore my entire collection of sortable recipes in my Recipe Index or learn more about me here.