1bottle sweet riesling winemoscato or vin santo works too, you want to use a sweet wine for this!
2cupswater
1cinnamon stickbroken in half
1star anise
1inchfresh gingersliced
Peeled zest of 1 clementineor a half an orange
2tspvanilla bean paste
½tspkosher salt
4honeynut squashpeeled and tops trimmed
Vanilla ice creamfor serving
Granola
¼cupmaple syrup
¼cupcoconut oilmelted
1tspvanilla bean paste
½tspcinnamon
½tspkosher salt
1 ½cupsold fashioned oats
½cuppepitas
1Tbspsesame seeds
Instructions
In a large sauce pot add sugar, brown sugar, wine, water, cinnamon stick, star anise, ginger, zest, vanilla and salt.
Cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Add in squash and bring to a simmer.
Reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for 30-45 minutes until the squash is just tender (cook time will vary on size of squash). Stir the squash around very now and then.
While squash cooks, make the granola. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
In a medium bowl whisk maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Stir in oats, pepitas, and sesame seeds. Spread mixture out evenly on a sheet tray. Bake for 20-30 minutes, tossing occasionally, until golden (it will seem wet still). Let cool. Granola will crisp as it cools down.
Cut squashes in half and remove the seeds. Serve squash warm, topped with a bit of the poaching liquid, a scoop of ice cream and garnished with granola. Half of a squash is good for one serving :)