This beautiful dish is simple enough to make for a weeknight meal, but attractive and delicious enough to grace your holiday table. The contrasts in colors, textures, and tastes make every bite an absolute joy.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
To prepare the squash, wash the outside of the squash and then trim about 1/3 of an inch of each end. Stand the squash on its end and slice it in half, lengthwise. Then, scoop out the seeds (which you can save to roast, if desired). Finally, lie the two halves flat-side-down and then slice them into roughly 1/3-inch slices, so they look like crescent moons.
Place the sliced squash on the baking sheet in a single layer and then drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle on the salt and pepper.
Roast the squash for 15 minutes, then remove it from the oven, slip every slice over, and return to the oven for another 15 minutes, or until it is starting to go golden brown and get a little crispy in spots.
While the squash is cooking, prepare the pomegranate arils(see tip below).
When the squash is finished, remove it from the oven, place it on a platter, and then top with the crumbled feta and pomegranate arils. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
Do Ahead or Delegate: Wash and slice the squash and store, refrigerated, in an airtight container. Seed the pomegranate. Crumble the feta, if not used pre-crumbled.Tip: Here’s how to seed a pomegranate. With a paring knife, gently cut around the dried-out flower at the top of the pomegranate. When you pull that piece off, you will see where the pomegranate is broken up into sections because there will be white pulp-like veins that run through the top. Using those veins as guides, gently cut down along the outside of the pomegranate, so that you are just going through the skin but not into the fruit (you don’t want to cut up those beautiful arils!). I usually do four cuts in mine. Then, holding the pomegranate over a bowl, gently pull it apart where you made those cuts. From here, you can either pull out the seeds by hand (what I like to do) or you can hold the pomegranate pieces seed side down over the bowl and, using the back of a large wooden spoon, whack the outside of the pomegranate and the arils will just fall right out and into the bowl.