Rehoboth Homestead

Winter squash are grown in the summer for fall and winter eating.  Some keep better than others, therefore some are available only in the fall.  Others go into fall storage pretty blah but sweeten over time so are brought out in the new year.  For fall our favorite is Delicata, but we also grow some Acorn since it is so popular.  We also love Long Island Pie Pumpkin.  If we were to grow only one squash for winter eating it would be butternut.  At this point, that is pretty much all we do grow for long storage.  Besides good flavor it is efficient – we cut off the small seed end and toss it to the birds, peel the nice neck and there you have a nice solid hunk of squash to cook with.  None of the cook it and then scoop out stringies.  By the way, just an FYI – canned pumpkin is butternut squash.

Butternut squash

I choose a straight one when I make one of my favorite dishes: rounds of neck cut into perfect half-inch-thick disks and fried in butter.

Here is something a little different:

Spicy Squash Pizza

From Rock Spring Farm’s newsletter

1 Pizza’s worth of fresh or pre-baked pizza dough
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound, approximately, winter squash
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon allspice
pinch of cloves
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 cups shredded mozzarella (smoked, if possible)
3 tablespoons squash seeds
Dried pepper flakes

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Peel and seed the winter squash, and slice into uniform ½-inch thick pieces. In a heavy skillet, combine the butter and olive oil over medium-low heat. Once the butter melts, add the sliced squash and cook, turning occasionally. About halfway through cooking, sprinkle with the cinnamon, allspice, and cloves, and salt and pepper to taste. Add more olive oil if the squash begins to stick. When the squash is slightly browned and tender, but before it loses its shape, remove the slice to a paper towel to drain. Meanwhile, roast the winter squash seeds on a cookie sheet in the oven until slightly crunchy. Prepare the pizza crust according to the recipe or instructions, then brush the dough with olive oil and top with the cheese. Put the squash slices on the cheese, sprinkle with the squash seeds, add hot pepper flakes to taste, and drizzle with olive oil. Transfer the pizza to the top rack in the oven and bake until the crust is crisp and the cheese is bubbly and slightly browned. Slice and serve immediately. Serves 2.