Squash often makes an appearance as a side dish or a vegetarian main dish, but rarely as an appetizer. And yet its smooth texture and bright color make it a great friend of the hors d'oeuvre buffet.
Delicata squash is an heirloom variety with a striped skin and buttery taste that surpasses acorn and butternut in flavor. It's less watery, too, so blended with Gruy're cheese it comes out so smooth and creamy that we couldn't stop eating it. We added a little milk to thin it and served with Trader Joe's Corn Tortilla Flat Breads.
Try adding a little squash to your appetizer lineup - we managed to preserve one half of the shell after roasting and scraping, and we served the puree piled up inside.
Delicata Squash and Gruy're Dip
1 Delicata squash
About 1 cup of finely grated Gruy're cheese
1/2 cup milk or cream
Salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika or cayenne
Heat the oven to 350'F. Cut the squash in half and scrape out the seeds. Turn the shells upside down in a pie pan, cover with foil and roast for about 45 minutes or until very soft. (You can also steam them in the microwave.)
Scoop out the flesh while still warm and blend with the cheese, milk, and seasonings. Adjust seasonings to taste, and warm up again in the oven or microwave if the cheese does not melt completely.
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This looks delicious. Forgive the "stupid question" but by "upside down" do you mean with the hard shell on top and the inside of the squash face down in the pie pan? Thanks!
This looks so yummy. I think I'll have to try it out tomorrow. I wonder how long it stays warm (and whether it's not very good when it cools off). There's only one way to find out!
Yes - cut side down and shell up. It's pretty dense so it stays warm for a while.
Is 1/2 tsp of cayenne right? Paprika, ok. But that feels like a lot of cayenne.
Oh, it's to taste, certainly. :-) I think squash dishes often need a little kick, and they can absorb a lot of spices before the taste comes through. But I would start with a little and season to your taste.
I made this tonight and it was quite tasty. I think the spice question also depends on your cayenne: we have some that requires I cut what every recipe calls for by a factor of 2, and some that's just fine.
I made this dip on Thanksgiving day and I liked the flavor. My only issue is I bought a Delicata squash (or so I thought as it looked like a Delicata and the produce guy at Whole Foods confirmed it was Delicata), but after baking it in the oven and scraping out the inside, the properties of the flesh seemed more like Spaghetti squash. After putting all the ingredients together in the blender, the consistency was quite liquidy - Though it thickened up a bit after sitting for a while, I have a feeling I just used the wrong type of squash - Live and learn!
It is delicious.
I just made it and it is great. http://eta-ta.livejournal.com/107229.html
Thank you for the recipe!