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Butternut Squash

Pumpkin-Apple Soup

Make this soup a few hours ahead of time, if you can. The unusual combination of flavors benefits from having time to blend. You can use butternut squash instead of pumpkin, if you prefer.

Moroccan-Style Vegetable Stew

This delicious stew looks and smells as enticing as it tastes. My sister-in-law, Toni Atlas, provided the inspiration for this recipe.

Argentinian Beef

Feel free to make this recipe using ground turkey or pork instead of beef, or even meat-substitute crumbles. You could also use a tenderloin cut of meat. Look for peeled and chopped butternut squash in your supermarket vegetable aisle.

Beef with Sherried Mushroom Sauce

Barley is a comfort food in my book. Hulled barley is a whole grain and offers all of the health benefits of other whole grains, including cholesterol-lowering qualities and fiber. Use a variety of mushrooms for a deeper, earthier flavor. This recipe tastes great with turkey, too! I cut and seed winter squash, but often I don’t peel it as the peel comes off very easily after it is cooked. You can also make this dish with yellow summer squash.

Tandoori Salmon with Kale

Garam masala is the basic mix of Indian spices. You can purchase it at ethnic or health food stores. Use your favorite chile pepper in this dish. Jalapeños work fine, as do Anaheim or other green chiles, or even red pepper flakes if that’s what you have in your cupboard. For additional garnishing, use sprigs of fresh mint or cilantro. If your diet is dairy-free, try this recipe with plain soy yogurt.

Whole Wheat Pappardelle with Roasted Butternut Squash, Broccoli Rabe & Pumpkin Seeds

This is an amazing dish because it takes everyday ingredients and joins them in a delicious and unexpected collaboration. Both the squash and the broccoli rabe have their own strong personalities—one sweet and one bitter—and each brings something to the party that would be sorely missed if one of them didn’t show up. Combined with the nutty, earthy flavor of the whole wheat pasta, this is what I call a real team effort.

Butternut Squash Soup

This soup is as smooth as velvet and has the warm, orange hue of autumn that always looks beautiful in the soup bowl. The cream adds richness, but you can leave it out for a lighter soup that is nonetheless very satisfying.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Sage, Maple Syrup, and Pecorino

With just a handful of ingredients, this fall favorite is super easy to make and at the same time really comforting. The mild sweetness of butternut squash mingling with the rich nuttiness of brown butter and the delicate, woodsy aroma of sage is downright delicious. Cutting up butternut squash is a notoriously difficult task because of its thickness and density. The most important thing to remember when cutting winter squash is to keep the piece you are working on as stable as possible.

Beef and Butternut Squash Stew

I’m really in love with butternut squash these days and I have been finding lots of new ways to use it. Here it brightens up beef stew, which can be a bit dreary looking, turning a tired old standard into something more unexpected and elegant.

Rigatoni with Squash and Prawns

This recipe comes from a beachside cafe in Capri. Prawns are very popular in Europe, where they are abundant, but here they are a bit harder to find and a little more expensive. Feel free to substitute extra-large shrimp in their place—or leave them out altogether. It will still be a very satisfying, hearty meal. The squash makes the most luxurious, velvety sauce imaginable, with a beautiful orange color.

Butternut Squash and Vanilla Risotto

I first tasted a risotto similar to this one in South Africa and though at first the idea of adding vanilla to a savory dish sounded a bit odd, I found the flavor combination irresistible. The vanilla adds a lovely aromatic finish but not a lot of sweetness. I consider this the perfect fall dish.

Boo’s Butternut Squash Mac-n-Cheese

I know it sounds odd, but my girl LOVED butternut squash! This dog might even go for it before a steak, especially if there were also pasta and cheese involved in the deal.

Cassolita

The word Cassolita comes from the Spanish word cassola or cazuela, which refers both to a round clay pot and that which is cooked in it. A Sephardic squash dish from Tétouan, Morocco, this cassolita is scented with cinnamon and caramelized onions and gets a nice crunch from the almonds. It is typically served with lamb couscous (see page 236), although it goes well with any hearty meat dish. When I made it for a dinner party for my editor, Judith Jones, all the high-powered foodies attending asked me for the recipe. It can be made ahead and then reheated before serving.

Tunisian Winter Squash Salad with Coriander and Harissa

This is a surprising and appealing melding of squash, coriander, and harissa that I tasted with couscous when I was recently in Paris. It is also served on Rosh Hashanah.

Black-Eyed Peas with Butternut Squash

In India, dried beans and peas may be combined with almost any vegetable. Here, I use either pumpkin or butternut squash. It gives a mellow sweetness to the dish. In India, this would be eaten with whole-wheat flatbreads, yogurt relishes, salads, and pickles. For a Western meal, the beans may be served with a sliced baguette as a first course or with roast pork or roast lamb.

Sweet-and-Sour Butternut Squash or Pumpkin

This belongs to a category of Bangladeshi foods known as bharats. Part relish and part vegetable dish, they add extra flavor to a meal. We are beginning to find peeled and seeded butternut squash in our supermarkets now, making this dish a snap to make. Those who cannot find it will need to use a peeler to get the skin off. I like to use mustard oil here, as it gives a very Bengali taste to the dish. If you have never used it, this might be a good time to try. Otherwise, use olive oil. I love this with all pork dishes and at vegetarian meals with other vegetables, dal, and pooris (a deep-fried flatbread).

Butternut Squash Puree

Despite all the wonderful varieties of winter squash, I still like butternut best for basic preparations like this one. This smooth puree will add color to your plate and comfort your palate.
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