This addictive delicata squash appetizer is quick to prep, and ideal warm, fresh from the oven. Delicata squash is worth looking for, as the skin is thin enough not to require peeling before roasting and eating.
Make the caramelized onions ahead of time and just re-warm for a couple of minutes in the microwave to save some time with this recipe.
Vegetarian
Jump to:
- ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- 🤷♀️ What is Delicata Squash?
- 🧅 Ingredients + Notes
- 🔪 Recommended Equipment
- 📝 Instructions Overview + Tips
- ⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time
- 👩🍳 Preparation Tips
- 💡Ideas for Possible Variations
- 🥬 Make it Vegan
- 📇 More Delicata Squash Dishes
- 📇 More Cozy Appetizers
- Delicata Squash and Apple Galette (Recipe)
- 🌱 Sign up for my emails, and get my 5 tips for easy vegetarian meals!
When I want a simple appetizer for a dinner party, I often resort to an assortment of cheeses and crackers when I'm cooking a large dinner for a dinner party. I add an easy dipping oil for breads and a creamy feta dip for some veggies.
But in autumn, I crave this fresh-from-the-oven Delicata Squash and Apple Galette made with frozen puff pastry.
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- It's full of fall flavors with delicata squash and apples.
- You don't have to peel the squash since the skin is so thin.
- A warm appetizer is perfect on chilly evenings.
- It uses frozen puff pastry (super easy to work with).
- Either purchase caramelized onions ready made, or made them ahead for a great shortcut.
🤷♀️ What is Delicata Squash?
Delicata squash is a yellow or beige colored winter squash sporting green and orange stripes. It's shaped like a Zeppelin or blimp, as you can see below.
The skin is delicate - which gives this squash its name. This means you don't have to peel it. Once roasted, both the squash and its skin is completely edible. (Big, huge yay!!)
Its flavor is also more delicate than, say, a butternut or acorn squash.
🧅 Ingredients + Notes
- Frozen puff pastry - my favorite is Dufour Puff Pastry Dough, but Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry is also very good.
- Red onion
- Unsalted butter
- Delicata squash
- Apple
- Fig jam - purchased or make this spiced fig jam at home. I make it every late summer and fall when fresh figs show up at the markets.
- Honey
- Blue cheese
- Fresh rosemary
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🔪 Recommended Equipment
- Rolling pin
- Chef's knife
- Medium sauté pan
- Baking sheet
- Large spatula (for transferring the baked galette onto a cutting board or serving plate)
- Cutting board
📝 Instructions Overview + Tips
Detailed instructions for making this delicata squash galette appetizer are in the recipe card below, but here's an overview!
Note: if you want to make your own fig jam, do that in advance.
Step 1
Prep the puff pastry. Thaw the frozen puff pastry, roll it out and keep in the refrigerator until you're ready to fill and form it.
Step 2
Sauté. Make the caramelized onions. Do this while the puff pastry thaws.
Tip: The onions will continue to caramelize in the oven, so remove the onions from the stove when they begin to caramelize.
Step 3
Prep the veggies. Remove the seeds of the delicata squash, and slice. Do the same with the apple. It's not necessary to peel either the squash or the apple, and has the extra bonus of making this appetizer rustic.
Tip: It's best to slice the apples twice the thickness of the squash since apples roast faster in the oven.
Tip: Do this step while the onions are caramelizing on the stove.
Step 4
Make the galette. Smear the puffed pastry dough with fig jam, leaving a 1-inch border. Arrange the squash, apples, and caramelized onions on the puff pastry, maintaining the 1-inch border.
Fold the edges of the pastry up around the filling in pleats. This is a rustic appetizer, so there's no need to be precise about the pleats.
Brush the filling and the dough with melted butter to help it all brown as it bakes.
Step 5
Bake. Bake for 30 minutes.
Step 6
Finish and serve. When done, sprinkle a little blue cheese over the top, slide it back into the oven for a minute to melt, and drizzle with honey.
Serve immediately.
⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time
- Use purchased fig jam, or if you make your own fig jam, make it ahead.
- Make the caramelized onions up to 1 month ahead and keep in the refrigerator in a sealed container. Or purchase caramelized onions at your market in the specialty foods area.
- If you don't make the caramelized onions ahead, start them while the frozen puff pastry dough thaws.
👩🍳 Preparation Tips
- The onions will continue to caramelize in the oven, so remove the onions from the stove when they begin to caramelize.
- It's best to slice the apples twice the thickness of the squash since apples roast faster in the oven.
- Arrange the rolled out dough on a sheet of parchment paper, and place it on the baking sheet before smearing on the fig jam. If you fill the galette and form it around the filling before putting it on a baking sheet, it can be very difficult to transfer it afterwards.
- Always leave at least a 1-inch border around the galette when filling it. This allows room for folding the dough up over the filling in pleats.
- Use a large spatula or, if you have one, a pizza peel to remove the baked galette from the baking sheet. A large spatula works fine for me, so don't run out to buy a peel if you don't already have one.
💡Ideas for Possible Variations
Butternut squash works in this recipe, but it needs to be peeled first, and cut into very small cubes to allow the squash to roast quickly.
🥬 Make it Vegan
- Use Pepperidge Farm Frozen Pastry Sheets
- Eliminate the blue cheese or use a vegan blue cheese like what's found in this Gourmet Cheese 6-Pack from Reine Vegan Cuisine (pictured and linked below).
Substitute agave nectar or maple syrup, Grade B, for the honey. The flavor of agave nectar is closest to honey. And while maple syrup introduces a completely different flavor, it pairs very well with the delicata squash and apples.
📇 More Delicata Squash Dishes
My favorite way to use delicata squash is roasted. Several years ago, I won first place in a recipe development contest on Food52 for roasted Crispy Delicata Squash Rings with a Currant, Fennel and Apple Relish. It's still one of my favorite ways to use this squash. Especially for Thanksgiving, which is why I include it in my roundups of Vegetarian Thanksgiving Side Dishes.
Here are more ideas for delicata squash:
- Stuffed Delicata Squash stuffed with apples, spinach, tofu, Serrano chili, raisins and topped with roasted pumpkin seeds.
- Spicy Delicata Squash Salad with Kale or any greens you prefer if kale isn't your thing.
- Spicy Squash Boats with Fruity Quinoa Pilaf
- Winter Squash and Quinoa Pilaf with Peppers and Pomegranate Seeds
📇 More Cozy Appetizers
Miso Mashed Potato Stuffed Mushrooms
Caramelized Onion and Feta Tartlets
Warm Feta with Honey and Dates
Delicata Squash and Apple Galette (Recipe)
Ingredients
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry thawed according the box directions
- ¼ cup thinly sliced red onion
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- 1 delicata squash
- 1 apple Fuji and Honey Crisp are both good choices
- 2 tablespoons fig jam
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons crumbled blue cheese
- ½ teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Prep the pastry dough. Roll the pastry sheet out to an 11’’ X 11” square, on a lightly floured surface. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Caramelize the onions. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onions, and toss to coat. Sauté until lightly caramelized. To do this, once the onions warm up and relax, only move them around the skillet every 5 minutes or so, only to make sure they don't burn. Once they begin to brown and caramelize, reduce the heat to medium-low. This shouldn't take more than 30 minutes.
- Prep the delicata squash. Slice off the ends of the squash, and stand it upright. Hold the squash firmly with one hand, and slice the squash in half, lengthwise, using a sharp chef's knife. Scrape out the seeds and pulp with a spoon. Tip: If you want to save the seeds for roasting, place the pulp and seeds in a bowl of water. Separate the seeds by gently massaging them out of the pulp. Discard the pulp and water.
- Slice. Slice the squash halves into thin slices, around ⅛" thick, using a sharp chef's knife. Slice the apple into quarters and cut off the core. Cut the apple into thin slices, around ¼" thick.
- Preheat. Preheat the oven to 400˚F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Layer the filling. Remove the pastry dough from the refrigerator and place on the prepared baking sheet. Lightly spread the jam over the surface of the puff pastry, leaving at least a 1-inch border all around the edges. Arrange the squash and apple slices over the jam, and add the caramelized onion on top.
- Form the galette. Fold the pastry edges up over the filling in big pleats all around the galette.Melt the remaining butter and baste the tart edges. If you want your tart a little more buttery, also baste the tart filling with a little extra butter.
- Bake. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the squash is tender, and the pasty bottom firms up. At sea level, this may only take 25 minutes. Remove the tart from the oven and add the blue cheese crumbles and rosemary. Bake an additional 2 - 3 minutes to melt the cheese. Drizzle with honey before serving.
Jeff the Chef
I'm appetizer challenged, too, so it's always good to find recipes like this.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks so much Jeff! I'm glad I'm not alone in this 🙂