Butternut Squash White Bean Spread

I love spending my days off relaxing in the kitchen, cooking and baking and experimenting. Some days those experiments turn out better than others…don’t ask me about the coconut oil sugar cookies (worst idea ever). Luckily, Monday’s experimentation yielded me a delicious and versatile concoction.

I have been wanting to experiment with butternut squash for a while but my hubby really dislikes it…silly boy doesn’t appreciate sweet dishes. So it took me some time to imagine a dish that incorporated my beloved squash without putting my marriage in jeopardy

Since I’m the one around here that scarfs down hummus and spreads like there’s no tomorrow, I figured making a butternut squash style spread was a safe bet. Boy was it a bet worth making.

Butternut Squash White Bean Spread

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups butternut squash, diced into 1 inch cubes
2 tablespoons tahini
Juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons olive oil
15 ounce can of white beans, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 bulb garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt (plus more to season butternut squash)
pepper

Method:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Spray a cookie sheet with non stick spray. Spread butternut squash evenly across cookie sheet. Spray the butternut squash with non stick spray. Then season with salt and pepper.

Cut off the top of your garlic bulb so that the tops of the garlic cloves are exposed. Spray with non stick cooking spray. Then wrap garlic bulb in foil.

Place cookie sheet with butternut squash and foil with garlic bulb into the oven to roast for 60 minutes.

Once squash and garlic have developed a nice caramelized brown color, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool to room temperature.

Now, squeeze the contents of your roasted garlic bulb into a food processor. Then, place all of your remaining ingredients into the food processor as well, squash, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, white beans, cinnamon, cumin, and salt. Pulse the food processor a few times to get everything going. Then leave the food processor on for a few minutes until your mixture is smooth.