Seasonal Spotlight: Delicata Squash

This variation of squash hits its peak right about now, in the late summer and early fall. We got one in our CSA pick-up this week. It's small (about six or seven inches long) and is going to be part of a dinner for one tonight. Get some ideas, plus a great dip from our archives that uses delicata squash, below...

If you aren't familiar with this vegetable (we're still learning), it has a thinner skin than acorn or butternut squash that's actually edible, and the color is more like a sweet potato.

Faith roasted and blended the flesh with cheese and a bit of milk to make this beautiful Delicata Squash and Gruyere Dip.

We're thinking of roasting thick slices with butter, then eating them like little open-faced sandwiches with slices of parmesan and maybe a garnish of greens, like the collards in our refrigerator. It would also be good tossed with pasta and some hunks of pancetta or bacon.

Any other ideas for eating delicata squash?

(Images: Flickr member lumierefl, licensed under Creative Commons; Faith Hopler)

Comments (3)

Delicata is my favorite squash--my mom always made it and I like that it isn't sickly sweet. My mom taught me to roast is cut side down and then we eat it with butter, salt and pepper. YUM!

Oh yay, I am glad to hear it's Delicata season; mine are starting to ripen on the vine and I had no idea if it was anywhere near time to harvest.

I have had good luck just scrubbing the skin, slicing ~3/4 - 1 inch thick, and putting the rings in one layer on a cookie sheet. (Trim or scoop out the seeds from the insides of the rings, too.) I make a melted butter/warm olive oil mixture with some thyme and some smashed garlic, and drizzle it over top of all the rings, brushing it on if needed. Little bit of salt and pepper. Then they bake ... I have no idea what temperature or time, but it's squash, so, you know, just bake it until it has the texture of baked squash. 350? half an hour? I don't know.

You can eat these skin and all. I like them with a steak and a green salad.