Butternut squash, polenta, figs & hazelnuts dinner

I was earlier inspired from a recipe I read from http://www.projectdomestication.blogspot.com/

which I read on http://www.lanayferme.com/home.html

I texted my friend after work tonight to see if she was up to cooking - and lucky for me, she was. 

Carefully gathering up all the main ingredients I managed to forget the recipe. 

I had wanted to change up the recipe a smidgion anyway, so we improvised. 

Here are the main ingredients. 

We ended up using the the acorn squash rather than the spaghetti squash, 

plus baked a serving of banana squash too.

The top was removed to reveal a beautiful scalloped-edge shape. I can imagine using this as a stamp with paint to create some fun wrapping paper (it's getting late so I apologize for the ideas). 

The squash was placed in an inch of water & microwaved for about 10 minutes. We were hungry, so we chose this option rather than turning the squash upside down & baking it in a 400-425 degree oven for about 40 minutes. 

The polenta was sliced in 1/2" slices.

For those of you who haven't ate polenta - it's a special treat, a great grain alternative, made of pre-cooked corn meal. 

We chose to fry this up on a griddle at about 350 degrees - remember it's already been cooked so your just frying it to gain that light golden-brown color. 

About 8 figs were quartered & some were snacked on.

And here's where the missing photo would be - a picture of about 3/4 c of hazelnuts being roasted over the stove. Half of the nuts were coarsely chopped & the remainder were left whole. 

Ah, the finished product. Laziz's Muhammara was used to top the polenta & the squash entree. Sliced cucumbers were added for both color & to include a raw green. 

Roasted hazelnuts & figs were sprinkled onto the squash.