An Umbria Winter Recipe: Lemon Zest Winter Squash

On these biting December days, our wood stove warms our Assisi farmhouse and the hot wood stove oven often tempts me into trying new dishes.
Here’s one we enjoyed yesterday:

Lemon Zest Winter Squash

Ingredients (for 4- 6 persons)

winter squash, about 1 – 1/2 lbs
extra-virgin olive oil, q.b. (“quanto basta” or “as much as you need”)
grated peel of one organic lemon
generous bunch of fresh rosemary
fresh sage, about 6 – 7 leaves
branch of fresh thyme
corn flour – about 1 cup
salt, pepper, q. b.

(optional additions: grated parsley, dice prosciutto, slivered almonds or walnuts or pinenuts)

Cut winter squash into pieces and finely dice rosemary, sage and thyme.
(I use our mezzaluna or “cradle knife” for that):

Add diced herbs to squash pieces and mix, adding about 3 T (or more) of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste:

Grate the peel of an organic lemon and add the lemon zest to the squash mixture.

[lcaption]Add the grated peel of an organic lemon to the squash/herbs mixture[/lcaption]

Line baking dish with wax paper rubbed with olive oil. Fill with squash mixture.

Sprinkle about 1 c of corn flour over squash, mixing into squash mixture before putting the pan into the oven.

[lcaption]Sprinkle corn flour into squash mixture and mix in[/lcaption]

Optional: sprinkle mixture with finely-diced fresh parsley before putting in oven. If you wish, mix in diced prosciutto or add slivered almonds, walnuts, pine nuts.
Bake at 350 F for about twenty minutes or until squash soft.

[lcaption]Lemon zest winter squash ready for the wood stove oven[/lcaption]