This cute little butternut squash called my name in the produce section recently. It was kind of long and skinny and seemed a good size for one or two people. I brought it home, cooked it three ways and enjoyed every minute of it.
I used a julienne peeler(affiliate link) to make enough noodles for several servings as my spiral slicer doesn’t work well with butternut squash. Then, I peeled the rest of the neck and cut it into cubes and scooped the seeds out of the round end. The cubes were tossed with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh thyme and placed on a baking sheet. The round ends were placed on another baking sheet. Bake at 350° until the squash is cooked through and tender. The cubes were packed up for later use, and the flesh in the round ends was scooped out and pureed.
The pureed squash was used as a base for a mushroom and onion saute. Not the prettiest plate in the world, but wow! it made a tasty vegan lunch. The mushrooms have a nice meaty “bite” to them.
The cubed squash was served as a side with some spinach and grilled chicken glazed with raspberry jam. Delicious!
The remaining butternut squash noodles were sauteed in a delicious brown butter sage sauce. I used sage from our little herb garden. We all loved the flavor of the sage with the pecans and browned butter. Feel free to use any herbs and nuts you may have on hand.
Ingredients
- 2 cups butternut squash "noodles" two large handfuls
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- pinch red pepper flake more or less
- 2 tablespoons sage chopped fine, more or less
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans toasted if you like
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- juice and zest of half a lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the butter, olive oil and red pepper flakes in a large skillet over medium heat. Let the butter foam, but keep an eye on it as it begins to darken.
- Saute the noodles in the browned butter until they're crisp-tender.
- Add the lemon juice and zest.
- Stir in the sage, parmesan cheese and nuts.
- Adjust seasoning to taste.
I ate my butternut squash noodles as a stand alone dish, but they’d make another great side. I like that I was able to get a great deal of food “mileage” out of a single squash.
How about you? Would your family get bored with so much squash?
These all three sound delish!
The brown butter sage butternut squash dish sounds and looks yummy. I will have to try making this one.
Thanks Sonya, let me know how it turns out for you! 🙂
All of these look and sound wonderful, especially the squash noodles with the sage sauce, yum!
The noodles were the most effort, but definitely my favorite! I liked having the roasted squash and puree on hand for later in the week. Just one less thing to worry about 🙂