35 cocooning butternut squash recipes

With its soft, plump shapes, this little butternut squash, native to the Americas, has the gift of putting us in a good mood. In just a few years, it has replaced the good-natured pumpkin in our shopping baskets. The reason ? Its more manageable size, its thinner skin, its long shelf life, its creamier flesh and its irresistible hazelnut flavor nuanced with a pinch of nutmeg. No wonder that the one we nickname “doubeurre” brings balm to our hearts when it appears in the fall to accompany us all winter. Because butternuts can be stored for several months without any problem, provided they are kept in a cool, dry place and protected from light. But we can bet that we won’t be long in slicing through its cream-colored skin to transform its flesh into puree, soup, gratin, pie, fries or simply softened after roasting for a long time in the oven. Good dough, it adapts to all situations.

Short on time ? Quickly peeled and cut into cubes, twenty minutes are enough to fry them in the pan. With a few cubes of feta and fresh aromatic herbs, you can easily enjoy it in no time. And since its texture is naturally soft and creamy, there is no need to add too much fat.

What to do with butternut squash?

How to prepare a butternut?

Cooking squash can be impressive when you don’t know the product, but there’s nothing simpler. If, in the case of pumpkin, you can cook it in the oven or in water with its skin, for butternut it is better to peel it. But be careful, the mission can be difficult if you are not well equipped. The right utensil? The vegetable shaver that allows you to remove just enough skin without cutting the flesh or wasting 20 minutes. Then you have to remove the seeds. In comparison, the latter contains much less than its cousin the pumpkin. And who says fewer seeds, says more flesh. A win-win vegetable in short.

As for seeds, don’t throw them away! Grilled in the oven then salted, they will be delicious to snack on as an aperitif, or will add crunch to a salad or stir-fried vegetables.

Proper cooking of butternut squash

Like other autumn vegetables such as squash or pumpkin, butternut can be used in all preparations. Caramelized and roasted with maple syrup or spices; mixed into soup; integrated into the preparation of a chocolate cake, pancakes, or gnocchi, it matches perfectly with both savory and sweet. In addition to its sweet flavor, it is above all for its velvety texture that we love butternut, less watery than some of its counterparts.

As with any squash, if you choose to cook it, avoid undercooking,al dente in squash, this is not ideal. It’s better to cook in the oven, in a pan or in water to be sure you have melt-in-the-mouth pieces. To check, nothing could be easier, a knife tip stuck in the flesh allows you to check the consistency.

The benefits of butternut squash

Low in calories and very rich in water, its orange flesh reveals an excellent beta-carotene content. In addition to making us look healthy, this antioxidant also helps protect our visual acuity. But this is not, far from it, its only asset: potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, manganese… Its mineral content, associated with its richness in vitamins A, B and C, should help our body to keep its tone until spring. All the more reason to abuse it!