Ideas for Butternut Squash please

Baggs

Chop, boil, mash with coconut milk. Eat with whatever you think will go with it. We like it with stir-fried pork, onions and pine nuts.

Make soup with it as the main ingredient and add whatever else (e.g. leftovers in the freezer) you've got kicking about. Summer soup – some o' this and some o' that 😉

Butternut soup made with coconut milk is lovely. Add a little chilli if you like it.

Roasted is very good, you don't need to peel and chop into small chunks if the skin is a bit tough, just cut into quarters or wedges and toast like thst.

In a stir fry.

toast like thst.
roast like that

Aely

Today I brought back a massive Butternut Squash from my allotment. It weighed 3lb 12oz. As it has been such a difficult year for growing anything, I don't want to waste it. Anybody got any ideas for meals using this monster in different ways? Does it freeze well if I cut some of it it up for later in the year? I've never grown one this big before.

Roasted
Stuffed
mashed
fried

Dogsjj

What is the easiest way to peel Butternut squash? I have very arthritic hands and last time I was nearly in tears. Thank you for any suggestions.

How does Jamie Oliver cook butternut squash?
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Wash and dry the whole squash, then place on a baking tray. Pierce once or twice with the tip of a sharp knife, then bake in the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes, or until golden and very soft.

Curry,soup and you can freeze it! I cut mine into cubes and put in 500g amounts and freeze it. I just cook it from frozen. Google some recipes. My fave veg

Its makes good chips. Exactly like potato chips. Cut them to size, then I put them in a roasting tin, add some olive oil and toss them to coat lightly, season, roast in a hot oven.

It also makes a nice mash ( same way as mashed potatoes)

butterandjam

Its makes good chips. Exactly like potato chips. Cut them to size, then I put them in a roasting tin, add some olive oil and toss them to coat lightly, season, roast in a hot oven.

It also makes a nice mash ( same way as mashed potatoes)

Oh yes, butternut squash chips are lovely!

I like the sound of the soup recipe from CraftyBrat, although I will probably skip the cloves. They remind me of dentists! There are a couple of other suggestions I fancy trying as well (including the chips). I'm glad it will freeze OK.

I picked it as it was only just starting to change from pale green to yellow so the skin is almost non-existant, unlike the hard rind on shop bought B'nuts. I have never grown such a whoppa before! Surprising considering the severe lack of rain in this area. I can't get down the allotment to water often.

Olive magazine has 45 stunning recipes fir cooking butternut squash.
My mouth was watering reading them .
Butternut squash has huge benefits .
It's anti inflammatory .

Chop it up into portions and add to vegetable soup, and pie fillings, and stews. It will make them thick and creamy.

I actually bought a bag of frozen squash from Morrisons yesterday; it’s a staple in my freezer. If I grew my own I would definitely freeze it (diced/cubed like it’s sold in the shops). It’s so easy to chuck in a curry, pasta etc

My favourite: dice into 1 inch cubes, add about a teaspoon of oil and toss to cover all surfaces. Roast at 150C in air-fryer for 25 minutes, then give it a shake and roast for a further 5 minutes until it's toasted on the edges and completely soft inside. Delicious! I eat about 2 squashes a week as a replacement for potato, and I have lost a massive amount of weight (I also avoid other starchy foods).

Changing the subject slightly, I used a rather overgrown courgette a couple of days ago. Not quite big enough to be a marrow and no seeds yet, but definitely no longer courgette size. I slightly modified an online recipe I found.
After removing the spongy seed producing inner, I sliced it and gave it a quick fry in garlic botter, as per the recipe. It also called for double cream and two types of cheese but I was using what I had, so I melted down cream cheese ("imitation Philly") with some milk to replace the cream, stirred in the courgette, into an oven dish and sprinkled with grated cheddar before baking in the oven.

It was really nice with my roast chicken, home grown runner beans and fried tomatoes (also home grown) replacing my usual gravy. Amazingly the courgette seemed to have turned into something remarkably similar to a garlicky Macaroni Cheese!

We had a courgette which rapidly grew to marrow size but it was so much easier to peel than a marrow. We've grown narrows in the past and skin can be very tough, which probably helps it to keep longer.

I tried to make marrow 'rum' years ago by stuffing it with dark brown sugar, hanging it in a clean pillowcase and leaving it to drip in the cellar but it went mouldy!

I'm not one to boast 'Aely', but your butternut squash was nought but a baby! A few years back I grew them for the first time, went on holiday for 3 weeks, and when I got back there were masses of them, one in particular seemed huge to me, so with my 4 year old granddaughter by my side, I cut it. She asked if she could hold it, and I said 'yes of course, but it is heavy so be careful not to drop it'. She was amazed at how heavy it was in her arms, so asked if we could weigh it in the kitchen. It weighed in at 6lb 4oz, exactly the same weight as all 3 of my grandchildren, so I explained to her that it weighed exactly the same as her baby sister, who had just come home from hospital, and she went round for a few days telling anyone who would listen, that her baby sister, was the same size as her Grandma's butternut squash, which caused a few giggles. However, I think my sister is going to have one even heavier this year, as when we visited her the other day, she had one which looked to be at least half the size again of the one that I grew. I wonder what the record is? Thanks for all the ideas for cooking ladies, I think my sister will be sick of butternut before the year is out!

I just season and roast it. Then add chicken stock, some chilli and any other spices I fancy, and liquidise. Easy soup.

Time2, for a moment there I thought you meant your sister was going to have a bigger baby!

6lb 4oz is extraordinary (for a b'nut squash)! I think it would collapse the basket on my mobility scooter if I had to bring that home! Was it a particular variety?

I love this soup!
humbly-homemade.com/butternut-squash-and-leek-soup/
Coconut milk is the healthier option but double cream makes it special if you're preparing it for an "occasion."

Having seen coconut milk in a couple of suggestions here, I bought some yesterday. Not good for my cholesterol, but its not as if I am going to have it every day.

Recycling bin or compost heap.

Blossoming

Recycling bin or compost heap.

Well, that's wasteful when there is so much can be made with it and really rather insensitive when there is so much hunger in the world.

Dogsjj

What is the easiest way to peel Butternut squash? I have very arthritic hands and last time I was nearly in tears. Thank you for any suggestions.

What I’ve done is stab it all over with a sharp knife, then microwave for 10 or 12 minutes. Then it’s easy to cut open and scoop out the flesh.
Otherwise IMO the things are a right royal PITA to cope with.

LeslieL

Dogsjj
Buy frozen chunks!

I also have arthritic hands and I use frozen for soups and casseroles. It's fine. I wouldn't try to roast it though.

Peel and remove seeds, cut into 1” chunks , boil until soft , mash with cream cheese and chilli flakes. Yum! On its own or as an addition to other dishes.

I make a risotto with roasted butternut squash, cherry tomatoes, and a blue cheese added as a topping. tbh you can add virtually anything, cooked chicken, sweetcorn, spinach etc and it's really tasty.