Butternut Squash

[LucyJones]

How do I know when it's ripe. Sell by date is 24th April so do I just wait until then?
And also, does anyone have any ideas what I can do with it when it is ripe

[Littlefish]

Steam it.
Roast it with a bit of olive oil.
Roast it and then mix it with rice.
Steam it and then mash it with cheese.

Just a thought - is this for your child or you?

[babyonboard]

It's probably ripe already. Though it's often hard to tell!
My DS loves butternut squash risotto.
Grate it up and stir in halfway through cooking normal risotto rice.
Otherwise it's lovely if you chop it into small chunks and roast it, as a side dish, or to mix in with salad etc.

[NAB3]

We had one yesterday with a long use by date and it was ready. Roast it with herbs and olive oil or boil and then mash. Very nice and great for children.

[trillium]

I've never had an unripe one , they're a vegetable not a fruit.

How do you tell if a potato is ripe?, or a cauliflower?

You don't have to wait until the sell by date to eat it.Just cut it in half and bung it in the oven until it's tender. Yummy.

[colditz]

trillium, a butternut squash is a fruit, not a vegetable

[colditz]

here

[Nip]

butternut squash risotto i slovely, my DS cannot get enough of it..

[LucyJones]

thanks everyone. So if I roast it how long should it go in the oven for and is it best to cut it in half first? thanks

[trillium]

Doh.....of course it's a fruit........it has seeds inside doesn't it?

I was in a hurry and shouldn't really have been on MN.....

sorry, sorry, sorry...........

[BarefootDancer]

Chunk it, roast it til soft with onions, herbs, whizz it with stock, voila ..... soup.

[trillium]

Lucy - all you ever wanted to know about that delicious fruit butternut squash

[Cazee]

Butternut squash is DELICIOUS roasted, just peel (that takes a bit of work, not like peeling a carrot, bits fly off and hit you in the eye), but presuming you survive the peeling, cut it into small chunks and drizzle with olive oil and roast for about 30 mins - mmm

[Cazee]

Sorry, really should have read through all the posts, see that my marvelous "roasting" idea has already been suggested

[halogen]

Peel it after you've roasted it! It's MUCH easier.

[Cazee]

thanks, I will try that

[halogen]

The peel practically falls off after roasting. When I discovered this, I was furious about how much time I'd spent peeling the damn things before roasting.

[lailasmum]

Butternut squash is ready to eat if you can buy it. I grow them and lots of other squash and they are picked when they are ready to store and use. They grow on plants like a courgette over the summer and are picked before the first frosts. I usually start using mine about August/September an then they store for months so the ones you can buy are fine to use straight away. Mostly they are imported if you buy them in the summer but you can get uk grown ones in the winter normally. There are lots of other varieties of squash that are nicer than Butter nut. Sweet mama is my favourite but is a huge squash. Waitrose tends to sell lots of different ones. The use by date is totally pointless when it comes to squash. If the outer skin is fine and they are not obviously going off then they will be fine.