Butternut Squash with Pecans and Blue Cheese

Really easy side dish to write up today. I'm afraid I was a bit lazy on one of my last days off and didn't feel like doing groceries - so dinner was this Nigella Lawson dish with a side of pesto macaroni. There's only three ingredients but they went really well together!

First step was to toast the pecans. Really easy - I just threw them in a dry pan and tossed them around for a few minutes. I translated the pecan measurement (100 g/4 oz) as 3/4 cup. Luckily I had these in the freezer already, purchased for a pecan pie that never got made...

Next was cooking the squash. I must have bought a huge one - it filled two whole pans. This was the most time-consuming part, which is why I don't eat nearly enough squash in the winter. But it smelled like Thanksgiving while it was cooking! The squash released a lot of water while it cooked - if I wanted it really roasty I suppose I should have split it into four pans so it wasn't so crowded. Oh well. I did peel it - I'm not into eating butternut squash peel yet, though I know you can.

I just mixed the nuts and cubed squash together in a big bowl, and since my hubby doesn't like blue cheese, I added it as more of a garnish instead of mixing it in. I have to say, though, it was fabulous with the blue cheese - totally worth adding it. It cut right through the sweetness of the squash - I wanted some in every bite. A really comforting meal on a cold night. Perfect for when you buy blue cheese to serve to your friends then forget to put it out!