Baked squash is one of those recipes that delivers maximum flavour for minimum effort: everything goes on one tray, and the oven does the rest. The combination of sweet butternut squash, salty feta and crunchy almonds turns it into more than just a simple side dish.
Why Butternut Squash Is the Right Choice
Butternut squash naturally has a delicate sweetness and firm flesh that isn't too watery – so it becomes evenly tender when roasted instead of turning mushy, which can happen with wetter squash varieties.
Peter Pepper: Fruity Heat With Room to Adjust
Peter Pepper brings a medium, fruity heat, but can easily be swapped for a milder or hotter variety depending on how intense you want it – the basic structure of the recipe stays the same either way.
Timing for the Feta and Almonds
Since feta and almonds brown faster than the squash needs to cook, it's worth adding both only in the last 10 to 15 minutes of roasting – that way the feta stays creamy and soft at the core and the almonds don't turn bitter.
Nutmeg: An Underrated Seasoning
Nutmeg is often overlooked in savoury dishes, but it works beautifully with roasted squash and rounds off the interplay of sweetness, heat and salty feta without pushing itself into the foreground.
You'll find the Peter Pepper chillies for this recipe in our Heat Level 8-10 category.
