How to cook butternut squash

The tougher vegetables are back in season – although they are available all year round – it marks the start of a change in flavours, textures and cooking

Butternut squash will provide you with loads to eat, making it an economical friend in the kitchen

It happened. Winter squashes have arrived, pushing their more tender summer cousins aside like slightly over-eager children in the playground after the long summer holidays. While they look tough on the outside with their rough skins and knobbly bits, they are actually softies with a bit of cooking. They are captivating to look at too, piled high at the greengrocer. Heaps of acorn squash, delicata (which looks anything but), the impressive blue hubbard and butternut squash want to hop into my shopping bag and come home, if only to grace the kitchen table.

Of course now we can find, buy and cook summer squash 365 days a year but the arrival of winter squash does feel significant. It is a marker of the change of seasons despite our best attempts to make the cooking year homogenous. Butternut squash does tend to hang around more on grocery store shelves but it seems happiest when its winter relatives come to join it.

One butternut squash will provide you with loads to eat, making it an economical friend in the kitchen. This recipe will serve a hungry crowd as a side dish but you could also feed two happily then puree the leftovers for a lovely soup with a hint of chicken or vegetable stock and perhaps some curry powder or cumin to warm it up.

And while butternut squash may lead the list of ingredients, the red onions are what make me smile. I love the deep crimson colour and the sweetness you get when you roast them. I found some gorgeous Italian red onions at the greengrocer – cipolla rossa di tropea – from Calabria. Even the name makes you salivate. They’re longer than bog standard red onions, shaped more like banana shallots. But use whatever you find.

Roasted butternut squash with red onions and a coriander pumpkin seed sauce

This recipe looks long but only because I have given rather lengthy instructions on cutting up the butternut squash. The basic idea is that you want the squash pieces roughly the same size so they’re done at the same time. I peel butternut squash but you don’t need to – the outer skin is edible or you can remove after cooking. The choice is yours.

Serves 6-8

1 butternut squash, roughly 1 kilo
6 small red onions, about 400-500g
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
Salt

Sauce

1 small clove of garlic or half a large clove, roughly chopped
25g pumpkin seeds (17g for the sauce and 8g for garnish) 
30g coriander, roughly chopped 
80ml-100ml olive oil
2 tsp white wine vinegar 
red pepper flakes, to garnish (optional) 

Preheat oven to 225C

I peel my butternut squash as I think it looks nicer but by all means leave the outer skin on if you like. Regardless, slice off a bit from the top and bottom to remove any stem and tail. Then slice the butternut squash into two pieces. Make the cut at the end of the slender neck, right before it bulges out into the round bottom section.

Take the tall “neck” portion and cut it in half, creating two short columns the same size. Take one of these and slice it down the middle. Cut one half into four wedges. Repeat with the other half and then again with the other column. You will end up with 16 wedges that are about the same size.

Now take the round bottom section. Slice it down the middle so you have two bowl-shaped pieces. Scoop out the seeds and remove any fibrous bits. Slice each half into six wedges, for a total of 12 wedges.

Place all the squash onto a baking sheet. Next slice the onions in half through the stem and root. Peel off the outer layers but leave the root intact. If the onions aren’t too large you can leave them halved but if they’re on the large size cut them into quarters. You can trim any hairs from the root end but do leave the root in place so the onions hold their shape.

Add the onions to the squash and toss with the olive oil to coat. Sprinkle with some sea salt and place in the hot oven. Roast the vegetables for about 30 minutes or so until they’re nicely browned on the outside. If a knife slips in the squash easily, it’s cooked. If any squash or onions are looking more brown than their neighbours, simply remove them and place them onto your serving dish. Do give the vegetables a turn every 10 minutes or so to ensure they brown evenly.

While the vegetables are cooking, make the sauce. In the small bowl of a food processor, place the chopped garlic and 17g of the pumpkin seeds. Give them a few pulses then add the roughly chopped coriander. Turn the processor back on and while running, slowly pour in the olive oil. You’re aiming for a rough sauce – nothing too smooth. Taste and add salt (it will need it) then the vinegar and give it a stir.

Place the roasted vegetables on a serving platter. Drizzle with the sauce and sprinkle with the remaining pumpkin seeds. Garnish with red pepper flakes if using and serve with more sauce on the side.