Hi Reader,

Every October, I buy winter squash as if preparing for a small agricultural apocalypse.
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The One watches them accumulate on the kitchen counter: butternut, delicata, spaghetti, kabocha. Soon we have what looks less like dinner and more like a still life entitled Man Who Cannot Control Himself at the Farm Stand.​
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I can’t help it.
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I get more out of squash for less work than anything else at the market right now. Split one open, wrestle out the seeds, add some olive oil, salt, and heat, and the oven does the rest. The flesh collapses into something sweet and almost buttery; the edges caramelize until they are darker and sweeter than the rest.
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And roasting is only the beginning. Purée squash into soup. Mash it. Stuff it. Toss it into a salad with something bitter or sharp. Add brown butter and watch perfectly respectable adults begin circling the serving dish.
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Yes, and cutting into some varieties requires the upper-body strength of a Bulgarian weight lifter.
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Consider it your workout.

How Not to Squander Your Squash

• Roast it hard. Winter squash needs high heat. Give the pieces room on the pan so they roast and caramelize rather than steam into orange submission.
• Don’t fear the skin. Delicata and some other thin-skinned varieties can be roasted and eaten peel and all. Less peeling, less waste, fewer opportunities for me to endanger a finger.
• Give sweetness some opposition. Squash naturally leans sweet, so pair it with salty cheese, bitter greens, chiles, herbs, or something acidic. Brown butter is magnificent, but a little contrast keeps things interesting.
• Save those seeds. Clean them, season them, and roast until crisp. They’re excellent over soups and salads, or eaten directly from the pan while claiming you’re “testing” them.
• And roast extra while the oven’s hot. Today’s squash can become tomorrow’s soup, mash, salad, or side dish, and if I’m going to do battle with a butternut, I prefer to emerge with leftovers.

WHAT'S INSIDE...

• ​Brown Butter Winter Squash​
• ​Roasted Butternut Squash Soup​
• ​Roast Winter Squash With Blue Cheese​
• ​Stuffed Winter Squash​
• ​Roasted Delicata Squash & Kale Salad​
• ​Roasted Spaghetti Squash​
• ​Mashed Kabocha Squash​

​Brown Butter Winter Squash​

Brown butter winter squash is going to banish memories of all other butternut squash—including that boring brown sugar and butter trick your mom used—from your mind. Here's how to cook it.

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​Roasted Butternut Squash Soup​

This butternut squash soup, made easy by blending roasted winter squash with sage and drizzled with heavy cream or crème fraîche, is quick, easy, and healthy. Not to mention delicious. Consider yourself warned.

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​Roast Winter Squash With Blue Cheese​

This roast winter squash with blue cheese combines tangy Gorgonzola cheese and tender roasted butternut squash for an easy, elegant vegetarian main dish.

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​Stuffed Winter Squash​

Stuffed winter squash takes many forms. This healthy and tasty version can be made with your favorite squash and grains, and you can easily make it vegetarian by leaving out the chorizo or adding plant-based meat.

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​Roasted Delicata Squash & Kale Salad​

This roasted Delicata squash and kale salad is a healthy side or meal that combines roasted winter squash, kale, ricotta salata, hazelnuts, and a Dijon vinaigrette. Bonus: it's quick enough to throw together on a weeknight.

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​Roasted Spaghetti Squash​

This roasted spaghetti squash is an easy technique for cooking spaghetti squash so that those silky strands turn out perfectly every time. Here's how to make it happen with ease and hardly any effort.

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​Mashed Kabocha Squash​

This mashed kabocha squash is an easy vegan dish made with non-dairy milk, cinnamon, and coconut sugar. It's as welcome on the dinner table as it is at breakfast.

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