Butternut Squash Perfection

In our quest to find a million uses for our sweet snack sets, we stumbled upon the inspiration for this recipe in David Lebovitz's wonderful cookbook, My Paris Kitchen. It's worth a jaunt over to his site to see this and all the other wonderful reads written by this charming and talented author and cook.

David refers to this as a "crumble" or savory version of a crisp. It's so much more than that. We've adapted this to create individual servings- good for keeping social distance, but also perfect for customizing each serving to meet the varying dietary needs of a crowd. Our adaptation here serves 6.

It's an easy blend of savory tastes with the natural sweetness of the carmelized squash and shallots, but the biggest reveal is in the crumble topping. Yes, there's butter, but the real magic ingredient is the cornmeal, giving this a crunch that holds up brilliantly, adding richness to the breadcrumbs and parmesan, and rounding out this savory treat.  

We're thinking a new family favorite is born.

Preparation: 

1. Preheat oven to 375° F. Place a rack in the center of the oven.
2. Generously butter the inside of 6 small ramekins or oven-safe bowls. 
3. In a large skillet over a medium-high heat melt the butter with the olive oil until shimmering, then add the cubed squash and diced shallots, and salt and pepper to taste.
4. Saute the squash and shallot mixture until they're well-browned and carmelized (the squash should be almost cooked through by now).
5. Add the chicken stock, stir to combine, and remove from the heat, allowing the squash to absorb the stock.
6. Stir in the parsley leaves.
7. Divide the mixture evenly between the small bowls or ramekins.
8. Make the crumble: in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, add dry ingredients, pulse to combine, then add the butter cubes, pulsing until the mixture begins to look crumbly and the butter is combined. Add the egg and pulse to combine thoroughly. (You can also use a pastry blender for this step).
9. Top the individual squash dishes with the crumble (pile it high!).
10. Place the squash bowls on a cookie sheet and transfer to the oven. Bake 20 minutes, or until the crumble topping is nicely browned.