Cue Up The Episode

1. Make sure to listen to Lenka on The Storied Recipe Podcast, No Beaches in Berlin while you make her Italian Roasted Butternut Squash Recipe!

Make The Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF / 190ºC.
2. Peel the butternut squash. Cut 6 round, 1cm thick slices of the upper and lower part, it’s fine if some have a hole, but you don’t want it to be big.
3. Put the squash slices on a baking tray, sprinkle them with 1 tsp olive oil and ½ tsp salt, and bake them for 20 min.
4. While the squash is in the oven, add oil to a heated skillet and add chopped onion and garlic until transparent (3-5min).
5. Then add the tomatoes, salt and pepper, and the muscovado sugar (optional, to cut the acidity). Use a wooden spoon to crush the tomatoes with torn basil leaves.
6. Let it simmer for 20 minutes, or until it develops a thick texture.
7. Cut the Mozzarella and Scamorza (if you are using this) into slices.

Assemble The Layers

1. Take the butternut squash slices out of the oven, and transfer them to a casserole dish or baking sheet.
2. Put a spoonful of tomato sauce on top of two stacked slices.
3. Then, add a slice of Mozzarella and Scamorza, scatter some of the olive slices on top of the cheese, and sprinkle a little parmesan cheese.
4. Put another butternut squash slice on top and repeat adding the other ingredients. Probably repeat only once because if you stack too large it will topple over!
5. On top of the last one add some more of the Parmesan.
6. Put into the oven for 10 more minutes or until the cheese is melted and getting a little brown and crispy on the top.
7. Optional: Lenka added a few fried sage leaves with a little olive oil and formed little balls of pumpkin seed butter for the top.