Happy Harvest season! I developed this recipe because I wanted something that brought all the beautiful flavors of Thanksgiving into one dish — something that feels warm and like I’m sitting at grandma’s table, surrounded by my family and with a plate full of mashed potatoes and gravy, turkey, candied sweet potatoes, a warm bread roll, and this. The perfect accompaniment for a Thanksgiving meal.
The cinnamon is warm, the honeycrisp is sweet, and the butternut squash is savory. The crumble marries well to the beautiful filling. Even though we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving at my grandma’s house anymore, I can imagine spending my morning making this dish, striding in to grandma’s with my hot plate, proudly laying it on the table, and everyone digging in.
Prepare filling: Preheat oven to 375°F. Dice ½ sweet onion. Peel, de-seed, and cube butternut squash. If you buy a whole butternut squash, cook it for 3 minutes in the microwave to soften before peeling and cubing. Peel, core, and cube apples.
Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add garlic and onion, and cook until onions are tender. Add butternut squash and cook until it becomes tender, about 10 minutes. Then, add apples and cook down for another 5 minutes.
Add chicken broth, cinnamon, maple syrup, salt, pepper, thyme. Stir and then let simmer for approximately 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until butternut squash and apples have softened and mixture has thickened.
Transfer contents to a generously buttered baking dish.
Prepare crumble: Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl. Add the brown sugar, flour, salt, and pecans and toss until moist crumbs form. Evenly add the crumble over the filling. Bake at 375°F for 20-30 minutes or until crumble begins to crisp.