Butternut Squash

We grow it in our vegetable garden and I have squash on hand all winter long. Usually roasted in one form or another. Although I will cook it down, then puree it, and use it in yeast rolls and breads. We don't buy it frozen or anything; it's always fresh. I just go down to the basement and pick one!

When I roast butternut, I just peel and cube it (large cubes, well over an inch or so--vegetables shrink down in the oven), then drizzle it with olive oil. Sprinkle with a bit of kosher salt, a few twists of black pepper, and throw it into the oven at 425 degrees F for about 25-30, or until it's tender. The squash caramelizes and it's just delicious.

We don't add anything else to the squash because we like the taste of the squash to shine. But some people just halve it or quarter it, scoop the seeds out, then brush with maple syrup and cinnamon. Or a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon. And then just bake it that way. This works well with smaller butternuts. Works good with acorn squash that way, too.

I also cube it. I peel it with potato peeler and then cut in half and make the cubes. I also do the olive oil, salt and pepper and bake it. I usually bake at 375 until tender. Then just before I serve it, I lightly sprinkle some brown sugar over it and toss then serve. We love it, sometimes I don't to the brown sugar - it's so good and has a lot of flavor.

Bake mine with butter and brown sugar. Looking forward to some for Thanksgiving dinner next week.

You can also cook it in the crockpot. I either do that or bake it. Sometimes I mash it. I don't add sugar to it, just a little butter or olive oil. It has such great flavor all by itself.

I braise mine on the stove with maple syrup. Or roast it with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

I bought a whole butternut squash one year for Thanksgiving. It was a bear to peel. I buy the packaged cubes now.

I've never done it on the stove top. I roast it, sometimes whole, sometimes cubed.