By Dana McMahan
FoodConnect Louisville
dana@foodconnect.com

Food Connect 101: Winter Squash in the Summer

I’ve had a butternut squash sitting in my cabinet since my farm share pick-up last week. I knew better than to hope we’d have anything other than highs in the 90s, but the only way I know and love butternut squash is to roast it (meanwhile roasting all inhabitants of our house).

I had a hot-weather cooking epiphany today though, and decided to steam it. If you have a good sharp butcher knife and someone in your house not afraid of cutting off their fingers, this is the perfect way to make winter squash in the summer. (When I say a good sharp butcher knife, I mean it. Don’t try this with a bad or dull knife.)

Carefully cut enough off the top and bottom to give yourself two flat surfaces. With the squash standing on the wider base, start at the top with the knife in the middle of the squash. Maneuver your knife down through the squash until you have two halves. Using a large spoon, scrape out the seeds and fibers from each half. (Note - you can roast the seeds in the toaster oven for a delicious snack)

Now the even harder work begins. Very, very carefully skin the squash with your butcher knife. A paring knife won’t cut it. Literally. Next cut the squash into ½ inch cubes, drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper.

We bought a rice cooker and steamer combo recently, and used that rather than steaming on the stove top. Anything to avoid turning on the flame on the gas stove! The steamer also seemed to work much faster than the stovetop method. The entire squash was cooked through in 20 minutes.

I love squash with white beans, so the rest of the dish was simple. I sautéed some chopped garlic in a lot of butter (about ¾ of a stick) and cooked cheese tortellini briefly in boiling water. While that cooked I added about half the squash to the butter (I froze the rest) and stirred in some finely minced fresh rosemary from the CSA (I love when I can use more than one ingredient from the farm in a meal). Next came a can of canellini beans, some vegetable broth and finally the cooked and drained tortellini. I added just a bit of grated parmesan, soe chopped hazelnuts and seasoned with salt and pepper.

Because I used a bog package of tortellini this made enough for two dinners plus two lunches tomorrow.