THE VERY VERSATILE WINTER SQUASH

The leaves are changing colors, the air has a cool crisp smell to it and the farmers' market is booming with a ton of winter squashes. Nothing says cold weather comfort food than a great squash soup, roasted root vegetables with your Sunday supper or a nice, warming Indian curry. The only difficulty is choosing which squash to use in your dish! I put together a few of my favorite ways to bring some warmth to your dinner table this winter.

SOUPS

The first weekend of October has passed, and the heating has kicked in. You know winter is looming around the corner, and the upside is that it’s perfect soup-making (and eating!) weather. Everyone loves a great squash soup; they are so versatile, being sweet and savory, and take easily to different cuisines depending on the spices you use. My Sopa de Flor de Calabaza (Squash Blossom Soup), inspired by a traditional Mexican soup, is a delicious, silky and rich soup without any cream that uses butternut squash. Another warm and comforting soup is my Pumpkin Soup with Garam Masala & Creme Fraiche. This soup uses the traditional South Asian spice blend, garam masala (it’s spicy and full-flavored but has no real heat to it), and the warming spices in the blend pair perfectly with pumpkin.

ROASTED

Roasting squash is a no brainer, and cut into pieces, a good squash only needs about 20 to 30 minutes in a 400° F oven. Of course, the old standby butternut is fantastic here, but kabocha, which is an Asian variety of winter squash, is also delicious. It has a strong and sweet flavor that pairs well with spices. Delicata is another great options because it has super thin skin and is really easy to peel.

Above is a photo from my cookbook for a savoury, winter vegetable crumble; roasted squash on its own would be delicious with a salty, Parmesan-laced crumble topping.. The great thing about roasted squash is you can eat it as is, purée it (see below), stuff it before roasting, make it into a hash by itself or with sweet potatoes or even toss it into a salad that day or the next! I personally love this Miso Harissa Delicata Squash salad recipe.

PURÉES

Another great use for winter squashes is purées. They make a great substitute for the stand-by mashed potato side and are beyond easy to make. This recipe is the most basic - a great building block in your kitchen arsenal that you can tailor to your tastes. A few ideas: add roasted garlic, truffle oil, chopped olives, pickled chilies or sprinkle with za'atar to make it extra special.

CURRY

To me, nothing is more satisfy or warming to the soul than curling up on the couch with my pajamas, a good movie, or book, and a hearty bowl of curry and rice. Curries originate from the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. They can be wet or dry with wet curries resembling stews in a significant amount of sauce and dry curries cooked with little liquid that evaporates and leaves a coating on the ingredients. Curries usually involve a variety of spices with the main spices being turmeric, coriander, and cumin on the Indian side of things; chili is always a player. Southeast Asian curries make use of different chili pastes and other herbs, aromatics and spices like kaffir, lemongrass, and galangal. Lucky for us, squashes play well with all different types of curry. Check out this one for Acorn Squash with Fenugreek, Chili, and Amchur.

PASTA

When the weather turns cool, who doesn’t love coming home to lasagna or a big bowl of pasta on the table? To make traditional lasagna a bit more interesting, try adding some squash in between the lush layers of pasta, cheese and sauce. OR get a bit more advanced and try this gnocchi. If gluten isn't your thing, spaghetti squash makes a fantastic substitute. Raw, it looks just like other squashes on the inside, but after it is cooked the insides fall out in ribbons resembling spaghetti. This recipe uses the spaghetti squash as the star of the “pasta dish”.

DESSERTS & BREADS

Being such a versatile vegetable, squashes can also find themselves in the dessert category. Hello…..pumpkin pie anyone!? But don’t just let the pumpkins have all the fun in the pies, butternut and acorn squash can hold their own in this category too! Try my bread recipe using butternut squash with apples and maple to make a delicious moist bread to serve with afternoon tea.

Enjoy!

Butternut Squash & Apple Bread with Maple and Cardamom

I posted a photo of this on Instagram a few days back, and a number of people came back and asked for this recipe to bake for the holidays. And here it is! It’s a bit lighter than other fruit or vegetable breads (think: cake), and relies much more on butternut squash than apple for flavor. That said, the great thing about this bread is that the squash doesn’t have to be precooked or pureed or anything before being added in. Grating it up in a processor does all the work you need, and the squash cooks in the baking time.

I made this cake for my daughter, who hated squash (until now…hah!). And for that reason, I changed out the flour using an “all purpose” mix of oat, brown rice, and almond flours. Really, it isn’t so much about the gluten, though being gluten free is a benefit for some here. It’s more about the fact that oats and brown rice and almonds have a lot more nutritional value than AP flour. Same goes for the maple sugar, a sugar from the maple tree that has a flavor very close to the syrup. Again, maple sugar has antioxidants and minerals not found in refined sugar. It has a lower glycemic index, and I always use a lot less of it in recipes.

These are just my choices, but feel free to use all purpose flour here and substitute another sugar if you can’t find maple. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Yields 1 8½” x 4¼” x 2¾” loaf pan

2 cups raw, peeled, and grated butternut squash

1 cup peeled, cored and grated apple

scant 1 cup maple sugar

1 cup oat flour

½ cup brown rice flour

½ cup almond flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground cardamom

½ tsp baking soda

2 tsps baking powder

¼ cup organic, unrefined coconut oil or ½ stick butter, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs, room temperature

Procedure

Preheat oven to 375˚ F.

Place grated squash and apple in a bowl along with 3 tablespoons of the maple sugar. Stir to combine and let stand to macerate for 15 minutes.

In another bowl, sift together flours with salt, spices, baking soda and baking powder.

In a stand mixer, cream together remaining sugar and coconut oil or butter. With mixer on medium-low, add vanilla and then the eggs one at a time. Turn mixer down to low, and add in the flour in three increments, stopping to scrape down the sides. Mix until almost combined. Fold in the macerated squash and apple with any liquid that’s accumulated and mix until thoroughly combined.

Pour batter into a greased loaf pan, and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool before unmolding.

Sign up to receive exclusive recipes, tips, updates and other goodies from Aliya!

THE VERY VERSATILE WINTER SQUASH

Butternut Squash & Apple Bread with Maple and Cardamom