The herbs and roasted butternut squash make a very good combination in an appetizer. It's rich without being heavy and just enough to make you want more. I used turkey bacon because one of our guests doesn't eat pork but I still wanted the smokey salty garnish. This went very well with a crisp lemony/minerally French Chablis.
Makes probably 70 or so appetizers but I only served 36 with loads of puree leftover. I think I'll thin the leftover puree to make soup today.
1 butternut squash
6-7 fresh sage leaves
2 thyme sprigs
1 small branch rosemary
Olive oil
2 tbl butter- melted
1/4 cup whipping cream
3-4 more sage leaves
1 tsp thyme chopped
1 tsp rosemary leaves chopped
s&P
2 strips turkey bacon - fried until crisp and diced
1 small diameter baguette - sliced thin
Preheat oven to 450 F
Peel and cube the squash. Chop the sage thyme leaves and rosemary leaves. Toss everything with olive oil. Add a little sea salt and pepper and roast at 450 for 1/2 hour or 45 minutes until the squash begins to caramelize and little spots of brown appear. Toss once or twice during the roasting.
Put the roasted squash into a food processor with 2 tbl melted butter and 1/4 cup cream. Chop up some more thyme, rosemary, and sage and add it to the processor. Process until smooth and thick. Slice the baguette thin, toast slices and brush with olive oil. Can do all of this the day before serving.
Put a teaspoon or so of the puree on each slice and sprinkle with the bacon bits. Place in a hot oven or under the broiler for just a minute or two to bring out the flavors and serve.
