Roasted squash puree

[markwkidd]

Squash puree can be prepared using several methods. Oven-roasting the squash may be the simplest.

Squash can be frozen either as clean raw fruit or as cooked puree. For a large winter squash fruit, a cook might first store the fruit for a few months whole at room temperature. Then when the squash is first needed, the cook might prepare half of it, and freeze the other half either raw or as puree.

Warning about hard rinds

Because the rind of a hard shell squash fruit does not soften with roasting, be careful to avoid getting pieces of shell into the puree if yours has a hard shell.

Ingredients

• 1 or more squash fruit
• Vegetable oil
• Salt

Equipment and supplies

• Oven
• One or more baking trays or casseroles
• Parchment paper or aluminum foil
• Scoop or large spoon
• Large mixing bowl
• Potato masher or something similar
• Colander

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit

2. Cut the squash fruit into pieces that are relatively flat. The flesh in the neck is often thicker than the flesh around the seed cavity. Suggestion: You may consider splitting the neck in half, and roasting those two pieces in a separate tray so that they can be roasted longer than the other parts.

3. Line your baking trays, pans, casseroles, etc with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

4. Pour a small amount of vegetable oil and salt into a bowl. Either using a brush, a piece of parchment paper held in your hands, or any other method, coat the cushaw flesh in a light coating of oil and salt.

5. Place the cushaw pieces on the baking tray with the inside downward. For neck pieces, this means placing the “cut side” downward.

6. If all of your pieces are the same thickness, then you only need to set one timer. Squash which begin at room temperature with flesh up to 1.5 inches thick can be roasted in approximately one hour. Ticker flesh should be roasted for a longer period of time.

7. One the fruit cools sufficiently, use a large spoon or scoop to separate the roasted flesh from the rind. Use a potato masher, food processor, or similar approach to mix the flesh until it reaches puree consistency.

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[YrtheArts (Brent Hopkins)]

I like squash that are large enough that half can go into my meal and the other half into the freezer. I agree that roasting in the oven is probably the most efficient way to cook squash. However, in my apartment my unvented gas oven emits carbon monoxide so i don’t use it. I dice my squash and cook it in a covered 5 quart deep cast iron skillet along with other vegetables. I guess that might be called succotash.

In the years when i lived and camped in the backcountry, we would let the fire burn down low and just lay squash on the coals. Sometimes wrapping it in aluminum foil if we had it, sometimes uncovered if we didn’t. It’s good like that.