Roasted Butternut Squash & Red Onion with Tahini & Za'atar

A recipe from an Israeli and Israeli Arab chef -both from Jerusalem. It is delicious!

This is a highly versatile dish that is quite simple to prepare but boasts some very substantial flavours. It is ideal as a starter, a vegetarian main course, or as a dish to serve with a simple main course such as Lamb shawarma. The tahini sauce is quite dominant. Although we love this, you may want to use a little less of it when finishing the dishl Just taste it and decide. 

From the cookbook- Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

Ingredients:
1 large butternut squash 
cut into 2.5 inch , 6 cm wedges
2 red onions cut into 1.5 inch, 3 cm wedges
3 1/2 Tbsp, 50 ml olive oil
3 1/2 Tbsp, light tahini paste
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp water
1 small clove garlic, crushed
3 1/2 Tbsp, / 30 g pine nuts
1 Tbsp za'atar
1 Tbsp coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 475 F / 240 C.
Put the onion and squash in a large mixing bowls, add 3 tablespoons of the oil, 1 tsp salt, and some black pepper and toss well. Spread on a baking sheet with the skin facing down and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes, until the vegetables have taken on some colour and are cooked through. Keep an eye on the onions as they might cook faster than the squash and need to be removed earlier. 
Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

To make the sauce, place the tahini in a small bowl along with the lemon juice, water, garlic, and 1/4 tsp salt. Whisk until the sauce is the consistency of honey, adding more water or tahini if necessary.
Pour the remaining 1 1/2 tsp oil into a small frying pay and place over medium-low heat. Add the pine nuts along with 1 1/2 tsp salt and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often, until the nuts are golden brown. Remove from the heat and transfer the nuts and oil to a small bowl to stop the cooking. 
To serve, spread the vegetables out on a large serving platter and drizzle over the tahini. Sprinkle the pine nuts and their oil, on top followed by the za'atar and parsley.