A squash roasted entire and uncut has far more flavor than roasting it in chunks or boiling it.
Hard wintertime squash is a scrumptious and flexible vegetable that can be employed as a side dish, in fillings for ravioli or lasagna, as a noodle substitute, in soups, salads, stuffed and so on.
This time of calendar year, I crave a sizzling, buttery butternut or acorn “squash mash” — feel of it as an substitute to mashed potatoes. It is comforting, filling and healthier to boot.
But hard winter squash is so challenging to lower by way of that lots of men and women do not cook them, or they only get them presently cubed from the grocery retail store. Even I hated prepping winter squash. It is challenging to get your knife by means of in a single slice. Often the knife will get caught midway via the squash.
So, I resolved a several many years ago to see if I could “hack” the winter season squash cooking system.
I acquired a total acorn squash and put it in the oven devoid of any prep. I didn’t wash or cut it — just taken off the paper sticker from the outside the house and positioned it on the middle rack of my preheated 400-diploma oven. I set foil beneath the squash to catch any drippings. And then I walked absent for a minor more than an hour.
When I opened the oven door and checked on the squash, it was however intact but no longer challenging. When I pressed on the outside shell, it felt softer, like an just about ripe pear. I turned off the heat and closed the oven door. I enable the squash neat in the residual warmth of the oven for another hour, but frequently 20 minutes will work just as properly.