Caramelized Onion-Butternut Roast With Chestnuts

Holidays a pain in the butt? Just imagine perfectly roasted chestnuts in a rich, savory medley of tender butternut squash, white beans, and caramelized onions in this stuffinglike casserole—little bit like the best parts of a holiday meal all rolled up into one. It’s only natural to want to serve this with simply roasted Brussels sprouts (page 31) and Holiday Cranberry Sauce (213). Enjoy this special casserole in those early fall months when the holidays seem so far away and all you crave are the fixins’ of Thanksgiving dinner.

caramelized onion-butternut roast with chestnuts, clean eating guide, veganP.S.We’ll admit that peeling a pound of chestnuts could have you longing for a drive around the mall parking lot. So if you’d rather not channel all your jolly, festive anxiety into peeling these little bastards, you can also grab prepeeled or even jarred chestnuts for this recipe.

Serves 6 to 8

TIME: 1 hour 30 minutes

Tip

This dish is best made with fresh chestnuts when they are in prime season, between October and January. After that, the freshness of most nuts in stores is often dubious; all too often we’ve purchased a pound and found out after peeling them that many a chestnut to be nasty, moldy, and shriveled. Instead, look for prepeeled, frozen, or jarred chestnuts available during the fall/winter months in many gourmet, natural, or specialty shops. Plus, they easily cut the prep time in half, giving you more time to procrastinate gift buying!

Casserole:

1 pound onions, peeled and sliced thinly

1⁄3 cup olive oil

1 pound chestnuts, fresh in the shell or frozen/jarred and prepeeled

2 pounds butternut squash (1 medium-size squash), peeled and cut into 1⁄2 -inch cubes

1 (15-ounce) can white beans, such as cannellini or navy, drained and rinsed, or a (10-ounce) package of prepared baby lima beans

2 teaspoons dried thyme

11⁄2 teaspoons ground coriander

1⁄2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

11⁄2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

Freshly cracked pepper

1⁄2 cup vegetable broth

Crumb topping:

1⁄2 cup dry white bread crumbs

2 tablespoons olive oil

1⁄2 teaspoon dried rubbed sage

Pinch of ground cayenne

1⁄2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Freshly cracked pepper

PREHEAT THE oven to 375°F.

Prepare the casserole:

Place the onions and olive oil in a 9 ~ 13-inch baking dish, tossing to coat the onions with oil. Bake for about 30 minutes, stirring 3 or 4 times with a wooden spatula, until the onions are browned and sizzling. Remove from the oven and set aside.

While the onions are roasting, prepare the whole, unpeeled chestnuts according to the directions for the Chestnut-Lentil Pâté (page 63). If using prepeeled chestnuts, skip this step and thaw if frozen, drain if jarred. Coarsely chop the peeled chestnuts and add to the pan with roasted onions.

Add the diced butternut squash, white beans, thyme, coriander, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and broth to the baking pan, stirring so that the chestnuts, squash, and beans are well coated. Tightly cover the baking pan with aluminum foil and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the squash and chestnuts are tender.

Prepare the crumbs:

Toss together the bread crumbs, oil and sage in a bowl. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Remove the foil from the baking pan, top with the crumb mixture, and bake for another 15 minutes, until the top is lightly browned.

From Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. Reprinted courtesy of Da Capo Lifelong Books.

Isa Moskowitz is a vegan chef and author. Her writing career began in 2003 when she created “Post Punk Kitchen,” a vegan cooking show for access television in New York. Her website, ppk.com, offers a colorful look at vegan recipes. Isa’s books—Vegan Cookies, Vegan Cupcakes, Vegan Brunch, Vegan with a Vengeance, Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook, and Appetite for Reduction—can be purchased on her website.

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