I have a confession to make. I love the idea of growing squash and storing it over the winter. There are so many beautiful colors, shapes, and sizes to choose from, and the long storage life makes it the perfect crop for someone like me who is trying to be more self-sufficient. But when it comes down to preparing it, my enthusiasm dwindles, and more than one squash has turned moldy in the basement waiting for me to get inspired to cook it. Perhaps it’s the fact that the skin of winter squash is so tough that I’m afraid I’m going to cut my finger off trying to cut the darn thing in half! Or perhaps it’s that I always forget to cook the squash the day before I was planning to come home from work and whip up that delicious sounding squash recipe that takes two hours to prepare if you haven’t remembered to pre-cook the squash. Whatever the reason for my lack of follow-through, I have renewed my determination to do a better job of eating locally grown vegetables that are in season, and that means eating more squash.
This year I grew hubbard squash, butternut squash, buttercup squash, and spaghetti squash, and I also stocked up on acorn squash from the farmers market. My one tried and true squash recipe is butternut squash stuffed with sausage and apples, which is quite good, but I only feel like eating it a couple times during squash season. Over the years I’ve tried several recipes for squash gratin recipes and squash stuffed with various tasty sounding fillings, but none of them have earned repeat recipe status. In order to be successful in this undertaking, I am going to need some new squash recipes to inspire me. I’ve done some recipe research on the internet, and I have found several promising prospects:
Creamy crock-pot pumpkin risotto
Butternut mac ‘n cheese
Butternut squash and leek gratin
Roasted acorn squash with chili vinaigrette
If anyone has a favorite winter squash recipe that they would like to share, I’ve love to hear about it, so please send me a message on the contact page and let me know!
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