Roasted Butternut Squash with Candied Bacon and Pecans brings out the natural sweetness of winter squash.

Roasted Butternut Squash

with Candied Bacon and Pecans

By Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime

Roasted butternut and other winter squash? This is the taste of fall.

And this is the theme for this month’s  Improv Cooking Challenge…with the delicious addition of pairing it with bacon. What do you like to pair with winter squash or bacon? Of course, I like autumn nuts, such as pecans, as I have added here, as well as a bit of brown sugar. Maple comes to mind as being a great one. Also orange, tangerine, or other citrus fruits. And with bacon? Always tomato. (BLTs! Yay!)

I can’t think of much that is simpler in way of a side dish than this, but roasting any kind of vegetable is easy. And this is tasty enough even for a holiday table, especially if you are looking for something that isn’t overly  complex or not something that takes up too mush time. This can also be made ahead and reheated without a hitch, so timing of ovens isn’t really an issue.

Looking ahead on the calendar, I have a few open days this week then I am  posting Corn Casserole with Sunday Supper. There are going to be some changes within the Sunday Supper group regarding the Twitter chats on Sunday evening, which have been discontinued. Peek in on Facebook  to find out if anything will be taking its place. I think  it will be  a FB Live, or Instagram Live. If I am busy Sunday and out, you can probably find it by checking the page of Family Foodie or Sunday Supper.

Following that is #CranberryWeek which starts officially on Monday, but I will be posting Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I have a dinner salad for you that features cranberries and pear, a recipe for homemade jellied cranberry sauce, plus a Cranberry Bundt Cake (Thursday) which also coincides with #BundtBakers.

Monday is saved for the first installment of my newest blogging group, #BakingBloggers.  This month’s theme is Pie, just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, so if you are in the market for Turkey Day dessert for ideas, make sure you tune in.

Friday is #FishFridayFoodies and I will be sharing my recipe for Crab Stuffed Mushrooms. Yum! You don’t want to miss that. Join me each day!

Roasted Butternut Squash with Candied Bacon and Pecans

• Servings: 4-5
• Time: 1hr
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds fresh butternut squash, peeled and diced
• 4 tablespoons melted butter- divided
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 4 slices  thick bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
• 1/4 cup chopped  pecans

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Line a baking sheet with silpat or nonstick foil.
3. Place squash on the baking pan, drizzle with half the butter, and season with salt and pepper, tossing to mix.
4. Bake spread out in a single layer for 30 minutes.
5. Stir squash, sprinkle with remaining melted butter, sugar, bacon and pecans, tossing to mix.
6. Bake for 20 minutes more.

From  the kitchen of palatablepastime.com

#ImprovCookingChallenge: Winter Squash & Bacon

More Winter Squash & Bacon Recipes:

The other recipes are linked, but on my platform, you have to click the button to go to that page. If you follow my blog, I am  sure you have seen blue froggie before, as several blogging groups I participate in use it. Usually you might see the boxes here, but as I said, my host doesn’t do that. But no problem. 😉

Click on the hop link button to be transported to the other recipes: