I would never say anything untoward here, as this is a family-friendly site. Especially during this family-oriented holiday season, you won’t catch me making any inappropriate innuendoes when it comes to food. But dang. Dang, dang, dang. If you don’t serve this Butternut Squash Puree as part of your Thanksgiving meal, you’re missing out on a real…um…sensual experience. That’s all I’m going to say.
Butternut squash is so good for you, it’s insane. And I don’t know what about it is good for you—beta carotene, maybe? Eye health?—but I just know it’s good for you. But the taste. Groooooaaaan, the taste. The taste of this impossibly smooth, beautifully mild dish will make your eyes roll back in your head and cause your muscles to quiver and vibrate. Oh! I forgot. This is a family friendly site. Sorry.
Let’s get started then, shall we?
First, I have to play with my butternut squash for awhile. Here, I’m pretending they’re lovebirds head over heels for each other.
Here, the female squash is beginning to turn a cold shoulder. She’s letting the love die, man!
It’s a well-known fact that if you shut out a male squash for too long, he’ll start turning his back on love. C’mon, girlfriend. Show your guy some sugar.
Aww…see? Sometimes all it takes is a nice, affectionate kiss to bring back the romance.
Not that any of that matters, because now we must slice one of the butternut squashes (squash?) in half lengthwise.
They’re pretty hard and tough, but if I can get the knife in just so…
Then I can pull a Ginsu HI-YAAA! maneuver and get it halved just right.
Now it’s time to scrape out the seeds and membranes.
Think pumpkin and Halloween…
Except it’s not a pumpkin. And it’s not Halloween.
Now that both halves are been seeded…
Place both halves, face down, in a baking pan.
Now pour a little water in the pan…
Oh, probably about a cup or so. Then bake in a 350 degree oven for about thirty minutes, or until the squash is fork tender.
“Wherefore art my squash? Honey?…Honey?”
“HONEY??!!??!!??!!??!!”
Okay, it’s been thirty minutes. I checked the squash with a fork, and it’s nice and soft.
Hello, lover.
For one squash, I use half a stick of regular butter. Cut into pieces…
And throw into a mixing bowl.
With a spoon, begin scraping out the flesh from the skin…
And plopping it into the bowl, right on top of the butter.
Keep on scraping until it’s all out.
The skin is pretty thin and flimsy at this point, so it sometimes takes a little work to get ‘er done.
Mmmm…would you take a look at that? It’s, like, soooo totally good for you. I just don’t know why.
Now, find the bottle of maple syrup you have sitting in your pantry. And okay, you might be able to get away with pancake syrup, but I’ve never tried it.
I add 2 to 4 tablespoons maple syrup.
And okay, I add 4 without fail. But you can get away with two if you like. Just add the syrup to taste. And look—see how the butter is melting under all that warm squash. Is this a beautiful world or WHAT?
Remember this? We used it when we mashed our potatoes last week.
Well, it works every bit as swimmingly with butternut squash! Just mash away until most of the large chunks are gone.
Now, a dash of salt usually adds quite a bit of flavor, balancing the sweetness of the squash and syrup. But don’t, don’t, don’t overdo it.
Okay, here’s the deal. You could EASILY serve it up at this point. I usually love rustic dishes with a little bit of natural texture.
But with this butternut squash, here’s what I do:
Just throw it—squash, syrup, butter and all—into a blender or food processor. And I’m sorry about the lighting, but I did this after dark and I don’t know how to use my flash properly.
Just turn it on and let ‘er rip. The squash has enough water content to swirl around and puree nicely. I can’t explain why the pureed texture brings out the flavor of this dish so beautifully, but it does. It brings a depth of flavor and consistency that makes my eyes roll back into my head and causes my knees to buckle, and I’m not exaggerating.
(And I’m sorry about the lighting, but…oh, never mind. I already said that.)
Now find a medium baking dish. I don’t know if this is technically a baking dish, but it’s all I could find that wasn’t dirty in the sink. I’ve been cooking a lot these days.
Now just pour the pureed squash right in. (Holy Moly, does that look GOOD. My vegetarian past is calling.)
Now just smooth out the top with a large spoon.
Now swirl the spoon around in a circle.
Now decide you don’t like that design and smooth it out again.
So try an “X Marks the Spot” sort of an arrangement.
Decide you don’t like that either, and smooth it out again.
Now turn over the spoon…
And do this.
Then lick your finger. But please don’t repeat this step. It wouldn’t be sanitary.
Then, with a new spoon, try a heart, like this. I call this design “I Love Butternut Squash Puree.”
And I do. I really, really do.
(Now you can cover and refrigerate for up to a day, then give it a little stir and reheat in a warm oven. Delicious doesn’t even begin to describe it.)
