If you are a fellow CSA member or someone who sticks to eating seasonally, I’m sure you are intimately familiar with our winter friend…the butternut squash. The great thing about these hardy guys is that they last a really long time and don’t need to be refrigerated, the bad news is that they seem to be about the only thing you end up eating all winter and by now just the thought of eating another one makes you a slightly ill (Is that just me? Maybe it’s because I’m staring at two on my counter as I write). Since I want to end the season on a good note, I thought I’d give an ode to butternut squash as this week’s pick. Plus, after months of trying to find out what to do beyond roasting them or turning them into a hearty soup, I discovered butternut squash enchiladas (which I’ll share on Friday) that pretty much rock my world.
- How to pick: Look for a squash that has no cracks or soft spots and is heavy for its size.
- How to store: Store in a cool dry place for at least a month. If the squash has been cut or cooked, wrap in a plastic wrap and refrigerate up to a week.
- How to prepare: Jillian did an excellent job explaining how to prepare squash in her post here.
- Recipe ideas: Jillian’s Butternut Squash Soup is a winter staple; 101 Cookbooks features Butternut Squash Muffins from the cookbook Homegrown Pure and Simple (which I have too, its great!); Gourmet’s Butternut Squash, Sage, and Goat Cheese Ravioli with Hazelnut Brown-Butter Sauce; Smitten Kitchen’s Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette; and Friday tune in as I share my Butternut Squash Enchilada recipe with you!
- Fun fact: Squash is a fruit – in the same family as melons and cucumbers – and in Australia butternut squash are regarded as pumpkins and used interchangeably in the kitchen. Also, originally, the seeds were eaten and the flesh of the squash was not.
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Yum, yum, yum I love butternut squash!! But yes – they are quite the winter staple.