Baked Winter Squash

Winter Squashes

by Cat, Sept 2007 (Photo, right, from Wikipedia Commons)

One of my old school buddies called this ‘squish,’ and I’d never had baked winter squash at home until I had it at her house when she had a slumber party. I raved about it to my Mom, who then had to find a squash (back then, in the late 1950s, they were not a common item in our rural Mom and Pop grocery – instead, she had to get it from a local farmer). The next summer, dad planted squash in his garden.

Check-out a related recipe: Roasted or Baked Acorn, Butternut or Buttercup Squash

See also: 1. Sides & Condiments Menu;  2. Root Vegetables (About); 3. Caramelized Winter Squash with Rosemary;

Baked Winter Squash

This method is quite tasty and simple.  The squash can be served with the peel (without mashing), or mashed with butter (or cream) and spices.

Serves 6 – 8.

Ingredients & Equipment:

• 1 or 2 whole winter squash (Danish, acorn, buttercup, kabocha, etc.)
• Unrefined sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• water
• ground coriander, cinnamon and/or nutmeg
• real butter (about 1 Tbsp)
• honey/maple syrup (optional)
• Equipment:
• baking dish
• serving bowl (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Cut squash in half and scoop out seeds.  [Cat’s note: I leave the skin on, then remove the skin before serving.] Season with salt, pepper and desired spices.
3. Place cut-side down in baking dish; add water to about 1/2″ depth.  Bake until almost, but not quite done (test with fork), about 30 minutes.  Larger squash may take longer, up to an hour, unless you cut them into smaller sections.
4. Turn squash over; add butter to each half/section (about 1/2 Tbsp per half), and honey/maple syrup to taste, if desired.  Bake additional 15 minutes, or until done, and the sugar along the cut edge begins to caramelize.  It should be mushy.
5. Remove from oven; remove squash from baking dish.  If desired, scoop out the flesh and place in bowl, then mash. Adjust seasoning.
6. I like to cut the halves into 2 – 4 wedges (after baking; or if cut before baking, it takes less time to cook) and freeze some of the wedges (with the peel) for future use.

Testing

Acorn Squash

1/11/23: I’ve made this many times before, but decided to record a testing. I used a small acorn squash (image, right, from Wikimedia, originally from “Forest & Kim Starr.”), removed the seeds as good as I could, and and cut it vertically into 4 sections (quarters). Into casserole dish, sideways (one cut-side down). Added unrefined sea salt, black pepper, and 3 ground spices (coriander, cinnamon and nutmeg). Baked 20 min, since the quarters are small, but needed another 7 minutes until “almost done.” Turned them over with skin-side down, and added a bit of butter and maple syrup to each quarter. Then back to the oven; tested done after another 15 min; total 42 min baking time. removed the squash from the peels, to a bowl, then mixed with a fork until smooth. Used 1/4 of the mix for dinner, and froze the remaining quarters for future use.  Result: Nicely done, and delicious as always.

6/18/23: Used another small acorn squash and made as previous test, but I only cut it in half instead of quarters. Otherwise, made as before with unrefined sea salt, black pepper, and ground spices: coriander, cinnamon and nutmeg. Baked 30 min, then added butter and maple syrup to each half after turning the halves over (skin-side down). Checked for done-ness after about 15 min: done! Served with baked cod, peas & carrots, beet, and baked acorn squash. Result: Delicious and done just right.