When I was growing up, my mother served a lot of canned vegetables, but the one thing she always made from scratch was acorn squash, which she roasted with butter and maple syrup. When I revisited her old method, I found it was just as good as I remembered. The sweet squash filled with a big puddle of melted butter and sweet syrup is so irresistible!

　　

Ingredients

Serves 6

　　3 acorn squash, unpeeled, halved through the stem, and seeded

　　3 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced

　　3 tablespoons pure maple syrup, plus extra for serving

　　Good olive oil

　　Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

　　Flaked sea salt, such as Maldon, for serving

　　

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

　　

Step 2

Place the squash, cut sides up, on a sheet pan. Place ½ tablespoon butter and ½ tablespoon maple syrup in the cavity of each squash. Brush the cut sides with olive oil and sprinkle the squash with 3 teaspoons kosher salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Roast for 40 to 60 minutes, depending on the size of the squash, until tender when pierced with a small knife.

　　

Step 3

Place the squash on a serving platter. If the halves are too large for one serving, cut each piece in half through the stem. Drizzle lightly with extra maple syrup, sprinkle with sea salt, and serve hot.

　　Cooks' Note

　　Acorn squash is hard to cut. To halve a whole squash, plunge the blade of a large chef’s knife into the side of the squash as far as it will go. Holding the handle of the knife, bang the squash (with the knife in it) on the board until the blade cuts all the way through.

　　Editor's Note: Head this way for more of our best acorn squash recipes →

　　Recipe courtesy for COOK LIKE A PRO. Copyright © 2018 by Ina Garten. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Penguin Random House.Buy the full book from Amazon.