Roasted Amber Cup Squash with Israeli Ptitim

Unlike its giant cousin moghrabiah, which I cook on and off, Ptitim or Israeli Couscous, as it is labeled in the markets here, has become a staple in my kitchen. Especially because of quick cooking time in rice cooker: just 1:1 ptitim:stock, with some olive oil, herbs, and spices in the rice cooker and it is ready to eat.

I was fascinated by the variety of squashes at the farm and picked up quite a few, ambitiously determined to cook them over the autumn weekends before they start decomposing.

A couple of squashes and Cloud 9 eggplant, some kale, tomatoes and peppers from my garden made weekend cooking a lot more fun over late summer and early fall.

Having grown squash in my garden and finding it heartbreaking to see only a handful get pollinated and bear fruit while the other flowers simply ended up boosting my summer salads, I have a weakness for these beauties.

The Buttercup squash from my garden, as well as Sweetmeat squash, barely bore a couple despite me waking up early and meddling with the flowers to try to get them going some days.

Anyway, Amber cup squash has thin-ish edible skin, with a golden orange flesh that is on the sweet side. This time, I partially peeled the skin and cubed them for roasting.

Along with Japanese eggplant, red onions, and green bell peppers, the Amber cup squash was tossed in olive oil and roasted in a 450°F oven for about 20 to 25 minutes.

A splash of lemon juice and olive oil, a dash of salt, and a pinch of pepper tossed with the cooked ptitim, topped with roasted Amber cup squash and onions and eggplant and bell peppers, and maybe some feta, makes a sumptuous Fall dinner.