Roasted Pumpkin with Honey Date Balsamic Butter

I love pumpkin. Homemade pumpkin puree is always best, and you can customize it to be exactly what you want it to be. It is very easy as well. All you need is a sharp knife and a half hour with an oven. You can eat this straight off the rind, or serve it as a side dish. I plan to use this as a side dish for some ham steaks, but it may never make it.

I finally ran out of last year's stash of canned pumpkin. I take advantage of the massive sales that they have on them at this time of year and stockpile it. I eat pumpkin cookies well into July every year. You never know when you need a fall fix.

If I had the time to can vegetables, I would buy so many pumpkins! I'm thinking pumpkin puree and homemade pumpkin butter. Unfortunately, I will have to make do with this batch of pumpkin and deep pumpkin dreams.

Roasted Pumpkin with Honey Date Balsamic Butter

1 small pumpkin, pie pumpkin sized

 Per every cup of pumpkin:
1 tbsp plain varietal Olive Oil, I used Balsari
1 pinch salt

Sauce:
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup Honey Date Balsamic

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Depending on the size of your pumpkin, halve or quarter it and cut each piece into thin slices. Make everything pretty uniform, 1/2 or 1 inch thick, or you will have some very crispy slices. It is also up to you if you want to cut the skin off or not. It will not change the cooking time.

Toss the slices with the olive oil and spread them out in a single layer on a baking sheet. Don't crowd them too much, you can always bake two trays at once. Sprinkle the pinch of salt over them and roast them. This is where the thickness of your slices matters! Check them at 15 minutes. They should be almost fork tender.

Melt the butter and stir in the Honey Date Balsamic. At 15 minutes, brush this mixture over top the pumpkin slices. Close up the oven again and continue baking for another 10 - 15 minutes.

You could let the pumpkin cook fully first and then dress with the Honey Date sauce, but I love the little caramelized crispy balsamic bits you get when it is roasted with them. Go your own way!

Serve as a side, chopped on top of a salad (with walnuts) or just for dinner. Have fun with it!