I did not grow up in a family that ate squash. We all seem to hate it. But I have had some pretty serious health scares in my life and there are vitamins and healing properties in squash you do not find anywhere else. I was determined to find a recipe I could live with that my tastebuds would not reject. The problem with most recipes I found is that the focus is on making the squash super sweet. For me, sweet goes with dessert, not dinner, most of the time. So here is my favourite way to make squash with savory broth and onions. If you are new to this vegetable, I recommend you begin with butternut squash shown in my photographs and work your way towards other types once you get used to it.
Butternut squash is easier to slice in half that other squash which can end up being a bit of a fight, you against Nature. You know how powerful She is! Even with the sharpest knife, it can be dangerous, another reason why I prefer butternut. This squash can also be peeled but I prefer to cut it in half, remove the seeds with a spoon and score the flesh with a knife.
Place the squash flesh side down onto parchment paper and roast at 400F for at least 30 minutes, longer just in case it is a large squash. This way you are adding no fat, cooking the squash with its own steam. If you have a food processor, I recommend getting it out and pouring in a couple of tsp of maple syrup and a little freshly grated nutmeg. Saute some onions in butter, then add two to four tbsp of broth to warm it up. Take out the squash, give it a couple of seconds and then scoop out the flesh and put everything in the processor and whiz it up. Or you can mash it by hand of course but I like the smooth texture you get from processing.
Yes, it is like baby food but what is wrong with that?! I like to make this recipe on dark autumn nights with roasted chicken and steaming corn on the cob. I wish my photos were better but by the time I make dinner these days there is no sunshine left but I figure crappy indoor photos are better than none at all!
I want to thank Tammy for her inspiration and dedication to adventure into the world of cooking with squash and inspiring me to post about it thanks to our many talks about it on Facebook.
This recipe sounds like a winner too!! I really love butternut squash, and I’m pleased that it seems to be the one that Mike likes best so far. I’ll have to try this one out on him! It’s such a great autumn food.
My adventures in cooking this summer have been so fun. (One day I’ll get back to actually blogging about them rather than just Facebook, but I’m putting no pressure on myself about that!!) Having fresh produce from local farmer’s has been AWESOME!
Someone else who didn’t grow up eating squash! We don’t eat it in my family either. I swear that is one of the most annoying things about being at NECI. Even though they teach us like we don’t know what we’re doing, I think they still expect us to know. Mostly because I still get looked at like I’m stupid when I say “Oh, I’ve never had that!” or “I’ve never cooked that before.”
This recipe would be good with me if it didn’t seem like baby food. I have a problem with certain textures!
hey suzie
in australia, everyone eats squash and all types of pumpkins year round.
one of the yummy ways to have it to get a real dose of the carotenoids and healthy goodness
is as a soup. You can just bring it boil in the stock of your choice with onions or you can roast it first, even with the skin on and then make it into a soup. depending on your taste buds, you can add cumin, black pepper and i usually finish it with a dollop of natural yoghurt and some parsley, which makes it creamy and more satiating.
most kids will wolf it down as well.
all the best