This is the soft inside of a baked butternut squash. My niece-in-law, Kat has taught me how to cook large hard-to-cut squashes in a very easy way! I LOVE squash but often hesitate to buy it because it is SO difficult to slice down the middle to cook it, or to peel it when raw to boil it. I was truly afraid that I might slip with the knife when trying to tackle this incredibly rock solid vegetable.
This picture isn't much to look at but it demonstrates the simplicity of roasting whole the squash that Kat taught me. The secret is to use the sharp end of the meat thermometer to poke holes through the skin to the center of the squash. That was surprisingly easy to do. I poked the holes along one side only and placed that side "up" on the cookie sheet. (I didn't cook the meat thermometer)! I put the squash on the cookie sheet into a 375 oven for a little over an hour. After it rested on the pan and continued to soften inside, I cut it open.
The peel came right off from the cooked vegetable as it was sliced for serving. With butter, salt and pepper this was delicious with a roasted flavor. I had no idea that squash could be cooked this effortlessly and safely ( I am not kidding when I said that I have worried about cutting my hand with a knife trying to wrestle one of these when raw). I look forward to trying this easy cooking method with acorn squash and with spaghetti squash which Kat introduced me to by bringing it on Thanksgiving this year.
