I was recently asked by Terra (OSG?s editor extraordinaire) how I came up with this recipe and after explaining my process to her, we both agreed I should share my fun little kitchen story with you on the blog! I often think this stuff is going to be boring so I don?t tend to get into the behind-the-scenes details too often, but I?d love to hear what you think!
This recipe actually started as something totally different. I?d been working on a simplified butternut risotto, and despite a few attempts, it just wasn?t impressing me enough (okay, I totally have Shania Twain in my head right now). I had planned on trying that recipe one more time before moving on, but just couldn?t shake the feeling of DOOM I had about it. Whenever I?m clouded by this ?feeling of doom? and try to force a recipe (ignoring the voices in my head screaming ?noooo don?t do it!?), I find it usually winds up being a waste of time anyway. I have to say that the results are almost always still edible and often quite tasty…just not quite good enough to share! So, putting the risotto aside, I brainstormed something in a totally new direction! I couldn’t get crusted butternut squash out of my head (#weirdo), and thought it would be absolutely amazing to create a nut-and-seed coating for one of my favourite sweet, hearty winter veggies. I thought about my popular eggplant parmesan recipe from Oh She Glows Every Day (page 173) and used that as a jumping off point to get the wheels turning.
But I d...