Foodie Finds: Scrumptious Squash

Even though I am missing the bounties of summer produce (although they hung around for quite a while this year), I get very excited with the arrival of fall produce, especially the varieties of squash.

Yes, pumpkin spice everything is good but give me a savory squash dish and I’m a happy camper. One dish I make on repeat in the fall is butternut squash gratin. It’s like a potato Dauphinois (potatoes, cheese, cream, garlic, nutmeg) but with sliced butternut squash. No recipe for this dish, just measure with your heart.

Butternut Squash Gratin

I said no recipe, but I'll give you the framework and you can adjust however you like. Start with the squash. Pierce it with a skewer in several places and microwave 5-7 minutes. Let cool, then the squash can be cut in half easily. Remove seeds and peel, then thinly slice the butternut.

Ingredients

• Butternut squash - pick the size that matches how much you want to serve
• Heavy cream
• Garlic
• Sage 
• Gruyere cheese
• Salt 
• Pepper 
• Nutmeg

Grease or spray a baking dish. Arrange butternut slices in a pan, the size of which is determined by how much squash you are using. In a bowl, pour 1 ½ cups of heavy cream. Add minced garlic, chopped sage, salt, pepper, nutmeg and 1 ½ cups of Gruyere cheese. Pour over the butternut squash slices and bake for an hour. This is an elegant side dish but can be just great on its own for a gourmet lunch!

More Butternut Squash Ideas

Another all-time favorite squash recipe is Ina Garten’s Butternut Squash and Apple Soup. It’s easy and absolutely delicious! I love the addition of both apples and apple cider to the butternut squash. You can find the recipe on her website and in her cookbook Barefoot Contessa Parties.

Sometimes I roast a couple butternut squash with some sweet potatoes and puree them together with a good chunk of butter, salt, pepper and chopped sage. Then I freeze the puree in cubes and tuck into my freezer. I pop them out when I when I want to make a quick pasta sauce, add them to risotto or make a quick soup.

Delightful Delicata Squash

Don’t overlook little delicata squash. They are small, easy to work with and you can eat the peel. This is a great option if you don't want to wrestle the big squash. 

Chrissy Teigen has a fabulous recipe for Crispy Delicata Squash Chips in Cravings All Together. Athena Calderone has a tasty side dish Delicata Squash Agrodocle in Cook Beautiful. The cookbooks in my list below also have a few Delicata recipes and you can even substitute delicata for butternut in recipes you'll just need more delicatas.

Not Squash But Fall Feeling

For a change of pace, I recently made the viral celery and date salad. I was skeptical – just celery for the greens, but this salad is delish!

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of celery
• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 cup pitted dates
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 medium shallot
• salt
• pepper

Chop one bunch of celery, not too thinly. Toast walnuts. Chop pitted dates. Shave Parmesan cheese. Add all to a bowl. Make a vinaigrette with lemon juice, 1/4 - 1/3 cup olive oil, thinly sliced shallots, salt and pepper. Pour over celery mixture and enjoy! This salad will keep for up to four days in the refrigerator and the flavor only improves with time!

Enjoy the change of weather and all the great comfort foods that come with the lower temps!