Butternut Squash

[mick harvey]

Hi this is my third year on my 250sqM allotment. It was neglected for some years and full of couch and other nasties, but I have finally tamed it.
I have begun trying growing different things and this year I have grown butternut squashes. They look great, but what do you do with them? should I bake them steam them or what?

[Tigger]

Bake them, roast and puree, roast, puree and add cream cheese, bake/roast/whatever and make a soup, add to soups, roast with courgettes and onions to make a soup/stew.

[tricia]

But let them mature on the vine first. They will then last you well into winter.

[Primrose]

Leave them on the vine as long as possible to allow the skins to mature and harden in the sunshine. Once the skins have hardened they will store for months in a cool environment. We roast ours in chunks like roast potatoes. They are also delicious roasted in chunks until slightly chargilled in the oven with a selection of other vegetables (peppers, aubergines, courgettes, onions). You can also boil chunks mixed in with other vegetables, but I think roasting best brings out the sweetness in them. Once the skin has hardened it makes them difficult to peel, so we always leave the skin on. It softens in the cooking and then can be more easily removed, although it can be eaten. You can also use chunks of it very satisfactorily in a mixed vegetable curry.