This bacon rosemary roasted butternut squash is the perfect vegetable side dish. Easy to make, impressive and delicious. And all the ingredients are from Aldi!
Slice the butternut squash in half lengthwise, and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. Once the squash is in half it's much easier to hold while you peel the skin off. *See notes.
Drizzle with olive oil and sea salt. Place in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. This is to soften the squash so that you can put the slices in it more easily.
While the squash is roasting for its first 20 minutes, you can heat a non-stick frying pan over high heat and start to cook the pancetta. Once the pancetta is browned and crispy add in the chopped rosemary and the butter. Let the butter melt and add in the demerara sugar and let that melt in. Let the butter and sugar bubble up and take off the heat.
When the squash has roasted for 20 minutes and the flesh is tender, use a sharp knife to make slices about ⅔ of the way down the squash. Make sure you don't slice all the way through the squash. Slice the squash at about 1cm intervals. Place back in the oven for another 30 minutes, or until the squash is fully roasted and tender all the way through. Spoon the bacon butter over the squash, top with the chopped hazelnuts and roast for another 5 minutes.
Notes
Note 1- The skin is completely edible and you don't need to peel it, but I always do. I think it looks better when it's sliced for the Hasselback part.
Note 2- It may seem like a long roasting time, but the process is really straight forward. And your squash may be ready before this time is up, depending on the size of your squash.
Note 3- Be sure to keep an eye on the squash during the last few minutes of roasting while it has the hazelnuts on it. Nuts are very fatty and can burn very quickly at a high temperature.