In my opinion, winter squash is the seasons saving grace. When potatoes and root vegetables have run their course but we still crave warm and hearty foods, these squashes are a perfect fit. They are colorful and versatile, but can be intimidating because they appear so difficult to cut and process. Well, here is where it is all made easy!
First off, you can cook the squash in an oven that ranges in temperature from 350 to 450 degrees depending on what else you have going on in your oven. Anywhere from 350 to 400 is ideal, but don't pass up the opportunity just because your oven is currently employed at 425 degrees.
Essentially, there are three ways to cook a squash and they vary based on the amount of caramelization they receive. Caramelization enhances the sweetness of the squash and also adds color, which may not always be desirable. Hence, we have choices:
- Forget the knife! Chuck the whole squash into the oven; cook until soft to the touch. Now you can easily cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. This is the best way to cook Spaghetti Squash.
- Make an easy mash with butter, brown sugar and toasted nuts or extra virgin olive oil and salt.
- Simplest soup ever---Sauté onions and garlic, add the squash, some herbs and broth to cover it all; simmer, purée and adjust the consistency with more broth. Indulge and make it "creamy" by adding cream, coconut milk (yum!) or sour cream. Because there is no caramelization, the soup is the natural color of the squash.
- For spaghetti squash, cut the cooked squash in half, scoop out the seeds and use a fork to remove the threads of squash from the skin, separating them gently. Serve it simply drizzled with olive oil or better yet, sauté some bacon until crisp, add in some minced garlic and stir in the squash. Season and stir gently to combine everything being watchful of not breaking up the "noodles".
- Cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, season and place the two halves, cut side down on a parchment lined sheet pan. Roast in the oven until soft to the touch. This caramelizes the cut side of the squash so you end up with some enhanced sweetness and a little color. See it live here.
- Still a great method for making a tasty mash or a delicious soup.
- Cut the cooked squash into cubes and sauté it like a hash. Stir gently to avoid turning it into a mash.
- Flake the cooked squash into a tart shell and add any cooked ingredients you like such as bacon, cheese, ham, spinach, etc. Pour in a custard mixture (eggs and milk) and bake in a 325 degree oven until set.
- Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds, like above. Peel the squash and cut into cubes. Peeling acorn squash is a huge hassle, so I pass on this method if that is all I have to work with.
- Add the cubes to a soup and simmer 10-15 minutes until tender.
- Toss the cubes with olive oil and season. Roast alongside your favorite piece of meat.
- Combine the squash, wedges of red onion, garlic cloves, escarole (really! it gets nice and crisp) and a few sage leaves with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in an even layer in a 425 degree oven until caramelized and tender. Serve warm or toss with pasta and garnish with parmesan cheese. Roasting the cubes gives lots of caramelization and thus, lots of sweetness and flavor.