Butternut Squash and Ajvar Dip

Lunch Jan 10, 2024

Note: Ajvar is a condiment made mostly of sweet bell peppers and eggplants. The finished dish tasted very similar to the ajvar straight from the jar, but the sweetness of the squash helped balance the slight bitterness it had.

We halved the recipe and used a shallow pie plate, was a good amount of food for two people's lunch.

Ingredients:

1 Butternut Squash

Vegetable Oil Kosher Salt

Freshly Ground Black Pepper 19oz jar Mama's Homestyle Ajvar, Hot

3.5oz Raclette cheese

1 Boule Sourdough Bread

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).

Cut the squash in half, remove pulp and seeds. Drizzle the cut sides with oil, then season salt and pepper. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet, cut side down.

Bake for an hour, or till the squash flesh is very soft.

Once cool enough to handle, spoon out the flesh and add to a small mixing bowl. Add the jar of ajvar (roughly the whole thing, but feel free to do it to taste) and stir together and break up large pieces of squash if needed. Transfer the mixture to a 9x9 baking dish or deep pie plate.

Shred the cheese and sprinkle on top.

Bake till cheese is browned, about half an hour.

Final Notes:

Mama's hot ajvar is not hot. Add a little something if you want a kick.

Pretty good! The raclette cheese was just to use up some of the fondue cheese leftovers. Mozzarella or some other gooey-when-hot cheese could have also probably worked. But shred it! Slices are not good for dipping - when you try to scoop some up it take the whole slice with it.

Shredded cheese would have looked and worked better!