Julia Turshen: Roasted Squash Agrodolce
The chef and bestselling author of What Goes with What shares about her love of farm work, the joy of cooking easy dinners in day-to-day life, and the importance of trusting your intuition.
Julia Turshen is a chef and New York Times bestselling cookbook author living with her spouse, Grace, and their many pets in the Hudson Valley. Julia teaches, volunteers, and runs a newsletter and podcast. Her latest cookbook is What Goes with What. I love Julia’s essays, interviews with her mom, childhood memories, and accessible recipes and techniques.
This quote sums up the new book:
Everyone who cooks has a certain intuition about what works and tastes good, and the only way to learn to trust your instincts is to keep cooking and eating what you like to cook.
Warmth and generosity shine through every page. Leafing through it, you feel like Julia is standing beside you in the kitchen, patiently encouraging you to learn to trust in your own abilities.
Julia’s passion for cooking is inextricably linked to love, both for making food and for sharing it with those she holds dear. She encourages us to love those things, too. I asked Julia to share a personally significant recipe. She chose her Roasted Squash Agrodolce:
When I think of squash, I think of working at a vegetable farm. I love harvesting squash—the vines become almost a jungle and it's like a scavenger hunt to find the squash." Delicata is so sweet and so easy to prepare—no peeling needed. And the flavor is rich and wonderful. I like sharing the easiest possible root to flavor whenever I can.
In 2021, Julia took off her author hat and stepped onto the farm. She relished being outside, working with her hands, and being part of a team. The experience reminded her that there are people behind every ingredient we use in our meals. For a time, she was one of them.
I asked Julia about her favorite context for cooking:
…an average weeknight quick dinner for me and Grace—I love cooking that’s just part of day-to-day life. Julia tells me that this recipe is for any time but especially as a holiday side dish since it goes well with everything and can be made ahead and served at room temperature which creates a lot of ease for us home cooks.
ROASTED SQUASH AGRODOLCE
Delicata squash is my favorite winter squash because it doesn’t have to be peeled, its thin skin is easy to cut through, and it tastes great (win, win, win). Roasting it for a little while to start and then tossing it with a mixture of vinegar, honey, and garlic and cooking it for a bit longer yields a slightly sour-and-sweet (“agrodolce”) dish. It’s just as wonderful served warm as at room temperature, making it a great make-ahead option. Feel free to top the squash with roasted nuts, herbs, something creamy (crème fraîche, labneh . . . whatever!), or dried fruit (golden raisins would be great) . . . or serve as is!
Serves: 4 as a side dish.
Preheat your oven to 425° F.
Thinly slice off and discard the ends of the squash. Cut each squash lengthwise in half. Use a spoon to scrape out and discard the seeds, then cut each squash crosswise into half-moon pieces that are about 1⁄4 inch thick.
Place the squash on a sheet pan, drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with a large pinch of salt, toss everything together, and spread the squash out in an even layer.
Roast, stirring occasionally, until the squash is just tender and beginning to brown about 20 minutes.
While the squash is roasting, whisk together: vinegar, honey, and garlic in a small bowl.
Drizzle the vinegar mixture over the almost-done squash and toss well to combine.
Continue to roast until the squash is a little bit glazed and a bit more browned, about 5 minutes.
Transfer to a serving platter and serve hot or at room temperature.
