Oven roasted Hadley butternut squash with back porch rosemary

Butternut squash is a favorite of mine. As I was digging through the produce at Stop n' Shop in Orleans in an attempt to find something locally grown, this sticker caught my eye. It was the same one I had noticed on the Massachusetts grown squash at Trader Joe's several months ago. Based on my observation of several discolored spots and the fact that only four out of the 100-plus butternut squash in the heap were from Plainville Farm, I judged these to be the last of the Hadley harvest and snatched them up.

It's a good thing, because the only other Massachusetts produced items I turned up in the warehouse store were Great Hill Blue Cheese and a bag of boiling onions. Determined not to let this get me down, I returned home to enjoy my spoils. As the cartoon squash had so sanguinely asked me to take it home for dinner, I let it be the main event.

After peeling, chopping, and seasoning the squash with its own seeds and a few sprigs of rosemary from the plant out back, I set the oven to 400 and put the pan in to bake for an hour. When the squash was crisp and the rosemary fragrant, I pulled it out and set the table in celebration of a fall feast that made it to spring.

OVEN ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH WITH ROSEMARY

Serves 2

Preheat oven to 400. Peel and quarter one butternut squash. Scoop out and wash seeds; set aside. Chop squash and spread over bottom of Pyrex or ceramic pie pan. Cover with 3 tablespoons olive oil. Chop 1 tablespoon rosemary and sprinkle over top along with seeds and a good dose of salt.

Bake for 1 hour or until crisp and browned around edges. Enjoy hot.