Slightly more weird than the butternut, the ridged, green-striped delicata has a subtler sweet/nutty flavor and more seeds than its ravioli-filling relative. I procured this fine specimen at Sonoma Market where, in an effort to outdo the newly-opened Whole Foods down the road, they've recently installed a wagon o' local produce, featuring edibles from Oak Hill Farm and the Patch. I halved mine, scooped out the seeds and sliced it into Cs. Inspired by a recipe from epicurious.com, I first sauteed the slices in a little butter till they were just golden on either side.
Then I laid them on a cookie sheet, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and roasted them at 450 for 20 minutes, until they were brown around the edges and had the mashable yet firm texture of a baked potato. Well, a squash is inherently moister than a potato, but I hope that makes sense nonetheless.
In the interest of saving time and avoiding gratuitous butter intake -- save it for when you can taste it -- I'd cut out the sauteeing step and just toss the squash slices with olive oil, s & p and dump them onto a baking sheet. If so inclined, try sprinkling on a little sage or thyme.
Slightly more weird than the butternut, the ridged, green-striped delicata has a subtler sweet/nutty flavor and more seeds than its ravioli-filling relative. I procured this fine specimen at Sonoma Market where, in an effort to outdo the newly-opened Whole Foods down the road, they've recently installed a wagon o' local produce, featuring edibles from Oak Hill Farm and the Patch. I halved mine, scooped out the seeds and sliced it into Cs. Inspired by a recipe from epicurious.com, I first sauteed the slices in a little butter till they were just golden on either side. 
Then I laid them on a cookie sheet, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and roasted them at 450 for 20 minutes, until they were brown around the edges and had the mashable yet firm texture of a baked potato. Well, a squash is inherently moister than a potato, but I hope that makes sense nonetheless.
In the interest of saving time and avoiding gratuitous butter intake -- save it for when you can taste it -- I'd cut out the sauteeing step and just toss the squash slices with olive oil, s & p and dump them onto a baking sheet. If so inclined, try sprinkling on a little sage or thyme.
mmm. reading this blog really makes me crave a jimmy dean chocolate chip pancake and sausage on a stick. mmm.
ReplyDeletehey eek,
ReplyDeleteI have trouble cutting squash before I roast it. It's so hard to cut, I 'm afraid that my knife will slip off and take away a finger tip. Do you have any tips on slicing the delicata (kind of knife, positioning) or is it not as hard as other types of squash? Thanks!
Yep, they're wobbly alright. Maybe I've got a slight slicing advantage since my Global is snub-nosed and less of an errant-stabbing threat. Anyway, here's what I recommend: slice off the base and the stem to make a flat surface on either end, stand it up, and halve it vertically. Make sense?
ReplyDeleteOh man, did I show you where I cut off the tip of my thumb cutting patty pan squashes for veg soup?? They're naughty little fellows, and they look harder to cut than they actually are, so the knife goes right through to the fingers.
ReplyDeleteOoh, will try the "squaring" of the squash. Thanks!
ReplyDelete