Whole Roasted Squash With Tomato-Ginger Chickpeas
This vegetarian sheet-pan meal, featuring creamy squash, sticky chickpeas, and tangy yogurt, is perfect for feeding a large group. The approach here skips the hassle of dealing with rock-hard, raw winter squash. Instead, you'll roast them whole until they become tender enough to tear into wedges easily. Meanwhile, chickpeas, tomatoes, olive oil, and a delightful blend of cinnamon, ginger, and marjoram intensify in flavor, resulting in buttery-soft chickpeas and caramelized tomatoes.Serve it with yogurt, and add a side of salad greens dressed with lemon or lime juice for a fresh twist. If you want to prepare this dish in advance, you can refrigerate the cooked squash pieces, chickpeas, and yogurt separately for up to 4 days. When ready to serve, reheat the squash and chickpeas in a covered dish in a low-temperature oven or serve them at room temperature. To make it vegan, add lemon or lime juice to non-dairy yogurt until it achieves the desired tanginess.
Ingredients
- 3 cans 15 ounces each of chickpeas, drained (equivalent to 4½ cups)⅔ cup of extra-virgin olive oil, with extra for drizzling
- 3 cans 14½ ounces each of diced tomatoes
- ¾ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 4 sprigs of marjoram or 3 sprigs of oregano along with leaves for garnish
- 2½ tablespoons of finely chopped peeled ginger
- Salt and black pepper
- 2 squash options weighing between 3 to 4 pounds each such as kabocha, butternut, or koginut
- ¾ cup of full-fat plain Greek yogurt equivalent to one 5-ounce container
Instructions
- Start by preheating your oven to 300 degrees and position the racks in the upper and lower thirds. Combine the chickpeas, ⅔ cup of olive oil, tomatoes, cinnamon, marjoram sprigs, and 2 tablespoons of chopped ginger on a sheet pan. Season this mixture with salt and pepper, then spread it evenly on the pan.
- Scrub the squash well as the skin is edible, and use a paring knife to make a few pricks. Now, you can transfer the squash to an oven-safe skillet, a baking dish, or a second sheet pan (using foil will make cleanup easier). Coat the squash lightly with some oil, salt, and pepper.
- Bake the squash on the lower rack and the chickpeas on the upper rack. You'll want to keep them in the oven until a knife can easily pierce the squash, and the chickpeas and tomatoes have become dark red and thickened like jam. This should take approximately 2 to 2½ hours, and stir the chickpeas occasionally.
- While the squash and chickpeas are baking, stir the remaining ½ tablespoon of ginger into the yogurt. Add water to thin it to your desired consistency, then season it with salt and pepper. Please keep it in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve.
- Once the herb sprigs are removed, season the chickpeas with salt and pepper according to your taste. After the squash has cooled enough to handle, cut or tear it into large pieces, removing and discarding any stems, seeds, and stringy bits. Season the squash with salt and pepper. Place the squash pieces on a platter with the flesh side facing up, then top them with the chickpeas, some ginger yogurt, and a sprinkle of marjoram leaves. Serve the remaining yogurt on the side.