Butternut Squash, Apple, and Fennel Tian

Butternut squash, apple, and fennel tian is a veritable unicorn: it's not only beautiful and easy to make, it's an excellent option for anyone looking for a vegetarian, gluten-free vegetable side dish. It's an easy-to-assemble showstopper that has also become my favorite butternut squash recipe, by far.

I have a lot of friends with dietary restrictions, and I'm always happy to accommodate them. But it can sometimes be a challenge to come up with dishes that meet all of my friends' needs that also appeal to everyone else. This butternut squash, apple, and fennel tian does all of that and more...it's a gluten free, dairy free vegetable side dish that's also beautiful enough for your Thanksgiving table. It's also one of my very favorite butternut squash recipes.

The inspiration for this tian came way back in summer, when I discovered the magic of tians. A tian is vegetable side dish recipe that is named after the vessel that it is traditionally cooked in, which is a round earthenware dish that can go from oven to table. It consists of perfectly sliced and beautifully layered vegetables that are roasted simply with olive oil and herbs. It’s a classically simple French country dish, one that lets the ingredients shine without a lot of fuss. 

Over the summer I largely drew from my small kitchen garden for the ingredients of my tians: tomatoes, zucchini, and eggplant. But my garden bounty eventually faded, so I turned to fall vegetables for my latest recipe. The one thing I knew I wanted was a really good butternut squash recipe. I tried a bunch of different combinations, and the first time I tried this one, I *accidentally* ate the whole thing in a day. That’s how I knew I had a winner.

The healthiest butternut squash recipe

You do not need to hunt down an actual tian dish to make this recipe! In fact, I have yet to find one. Most of my summer tians were made in my favorite 2 quart rectangular ceramic baking dish from Mason Cash. Your tian can be architecturally beautiful in whatever dish you choose to make it in, from a 9X13 Pyrex to a 10 or 12-inch cast iron skillet.

The other thing about tians is that they are incredibly healthy. They typically only consist of vegetables, olive oil, salt and pepper, and herbs. You can’t get much healthier than that! I’ve dressed this one up for the holiday with some walnuts and rosemary, but this tian is delicious even without the nuts. And with the natural sweetness of the caramelized shallots, roasted butternut squash, and apples, it's the perfect vegan side dish to accommodate a variety of dietary needs and preferences.

Working with fennel bulbs

Not everyone has experience with fennel bulbs. You might be more familiar with fennel seeds, which give that extra-something to Italian sausage, but the vegetable version of fennel has a much lighter, brighter flavor. It is faintly reminiscent of black licorice, but don’t let that put you off, because when it’s cooked, it mellows dramatically into something that is beautifully savory, and the perfect accent to the other ingredients in this tian.

When buying fennel bulbs, look for bright white, firm bulbs with no bruising on the outside layer. If the bulb still has its stems, make sure they are still crisp, and check to see that the leaves are still bright and firm. Once you get it home, it will only keep for 3-5 days, so be sure to buy it close to when you need to use it. 

Tips for a perfect butternut squash, apple, and fennel tian

• For uniform half-moon slices of butternut squash, buy one with a long neck and use just the neck. Save the bottom bulbous part of the squash for another butternut squash recipe. Roasted cubes of butternut squash make a great salad ingredient...just saying.
• I recommend using tart or sweet-tart baking apples in this tian, since they will hold up better during the roasting process, and eating apples can get unpleasantly sweet and mushy when baked. I’ve been using an heirloom variety called Arkansas Black apples (which are CRAZY delicious for baking, if you can find them), but Jonathan apples or Pink Lady apples work great too. A dark red apple gives this dish extra color and looks gorgeous next to the orange squash and the green fennel.
• Make your slices of fennel, squash, and apple as uniformly thick as possible, since the ingredients will all cook at about the same rate.
• The fennel slices can come apart a bit during the layering process, so I often layer in the squash and apples loosely, then tuck the fennel in between the slices afterward. That helps pack the veggies in tightly enough for the tian to cook properly.

Prep ahead and storage

It’s tough to assemble this too far ahead because the apples will brown, but you can certainly get a head start by slicing the shallots, the butternut squash, and the fennel and having everything ready to go, then slice the apples right before you assemble your tian. I have also successfully partially cooked a tian for 30 minutes, let it cool for 10-15 minutes, transported it to wherever we were having dinner, and finished it off in our host’s oven. 

Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.