Butternut Squash With Garlic and Vegan "Parmesan Cheese"

A friend gave me some butternut squash from her garden. I found a recipe in The Quick and Easy Vegetarian Cookbook, by Ruthann Manners and William Manners, published by M. Evans and Company, Inc., page 139, which I adapted.

One thing I changed from the original, was to substitute vegan" Parmesan " for the dairy Parmesan. You can buy vegan "Parmesan", or make your own (recipe follows).

Butternut Squash With Garlic and Vegan "Parmesan Cheese"
serves 4

5 cups uncooked butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to oil the baking pan
1/4 cup coarsely diced garlic cloves
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder (or more to taste)
generous grinding of pepper
½ cup vegan Parmesan (see recipe below)
chopped fresh parsley or thyme for garnish

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Combine the flour, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Place squash and garlic in a bowl, toss with the olive oil to coat. Coat the squash cubes with the flour mixture, then coat the squash cubes with the vegan Parmesan.

Place the squash cubes in one layer an a lightly oiled rimmed baking sheet. Bake the squash for 20 minutes or until the bottoms of the cubes become crisp and lightly browned (check after 15 to assure that the bottom of the squash cubers are not getting too browned). Turn the cubes over, and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until the other side of the cubes become crisp and lightly browned. Serve hot in a casserole dish. If desired, garnish with chopped fresh parsley or thyme.

Vegan Parmesan
makes about 1 ½ cups

1 cup nutritional yeast (available at natural food stores)
½ cups raw almonds
½ teaspoon salt

Grind the almonds into a fine powder using a coffee, nut, or spice grinder (a food processor might work, but I don’t have much luck with this. A blender does not work for grinding almonds.)

Place the ground almonds, salt, and nutritional yeast into a food processor and grind together until thoroughly mixed.

This can be used on vegan pizza, or pasta.