Fall has always been my favorite season. The leaves turning from green to red and yellow hues; the smell of smoke billowing from chimneys for the first time, really makes me happy. Can you tell that I am a Pennsylvania girl at heart? Around this time of year we start to see winter squash also appear in our local grocery store. Truth be told I was a little frightened by them. They look ugly, oddly shaped and seem difficult to cook with. Turns out -not true. Well kind of.
I saw this recipe with roasted butternut squash in one of my food magazines. Or was it zucchini? I don't remember but the recipe had mussels and veggies in pasta and I do not like mussels. Sooo I decided to do my own version. When I was at the farmers market this weekend, I picked up a butternut squash and a huge zucchini. I figured I could just roast them then toss in with pasta. The zucchini was easy cut up and drizzle with olive oil and top with some salt and pepper. The butternut squash was much more difficult. I had no idea how to cut this sucker up into cubes to roast. I decided to just cut down the middle and see what happened. (BTW I tried to be as low key as possible because BPII was in the other room and I told him I knew what I was doing. HA) I scooped out the seeds like a pumpkin and decided to cut into quarters and roast with the skin on. I again drizzled the butternut squash with olive oil and topped with salt and pepper. I roasted both the zucchini and butternut squash at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, I look to see how things are going and I find my zucchini has shriveled into little tiny pieces while my butternut squash has not even begun to brown. I take the zucchini out and cover with foil and wait another 15min - then another 15 minutes. Finally the butternut squash is starting to brown and I take it out of the oven and insert my knife to see if it is soft. Knife goes in easily and it looks like we are good. But I still need to take this tough skin off. The flesh turned out to be really soft and I could easily separate the skin from the yummy squash insides. I then cubed the squash up and tossed both the zucchini and butternut squash with some pasta. I added some olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. The dish was interesting. Each part was good but together it was a bit odd. So my first try at winter squash was not a homerun but I believe this is the start of a beautiful friendship.
I found a video to show how to properly cut up and peel a butternut squash. I think it would have been much easier to roast this way. Lessons for next time.
I saw this recipe with roasted butternut squash in one of my food magazines. Or was it zucchini? I don't remember but the recipe had mussels and veggies in pasta and I do not like mussels. Sooo I decided to do my own version. When I was at the farmers market this weekend, I picked up a butternut squash and a huge zucchini. I figured I could just roast them then toss in with pasta. The zucchini was easy cut up and drizzle with olive oil and top with some salt and pepper. The butternut squash was much more difficult. I had no idea how to cut this sucker up into cubes to roast. I decided to just cut down the middle and see what happened. (BTW I tried to be as low key as possible because BPII was in the other room and I told him I knew what I was doing. HA) I scooped out the seeds like a pumpkin and decided to cut into quarters and roast with the skin on. I again drizzled the butternut squash with olive oil and topped with salt and pepper. I roasted both the zucchini and butternut squash at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, I look to see how things are going and I find my zucchini has shriveled into little tiny pieces while my butternut squash has not even begun to brown. I take the zucchini out and cover with foil and wait another 15min - then another 15 minutes. Finally the butternut squash is starting to brown and I take it out of the oven and insert my knife to see if it is soft. Knife goes in easily and it looks like we are good. But I still need to take this tough skin off. The flesh turned out to be really soft and I could easily separate the skin from the yummy squash insides. I then cubed the squash up and tossed both the zucchini and butternut squash with some pasta. I added some olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. The dish was interesting. Each part was good but together it was a bit odd. So my first try at winter squash was not a homerun but I believe this is the start of a beautiful friendship.
I found a video to show how to properly cut up and peel a butternut squash. I think it would have been much easier to roast this way. Lessons for next time.
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