Eat what you grow…Winter Squash Purée
If you read my post about growing winter squash you’ll know how much I love it. Below is my favorite way to purée squash which is the base for a lot of the recipes I’ll be sharing. We use our purée to make pie, soup, pancakes, bread, muffins…all the things.
Puréed Winter Squash
This is the easiest way I know to puree you squash. It can be frozen and used later as well.
Ingredients:
A winter squash
Instructions:
Preheat an oven to 400°
Cut the squash lengthwise and remove the stem
Scoop out all the seeds and slimy innards. If you’re going to save the seeds, wash them in cool water and let them dry in a single layer.
Place the squash with the skin side up on a baking sheet and bake until you can pierce the squash easily with a fork. Timing will depend on size, but I’ve found that it rarely takes less than 40 minutes.
Remove the squash from the oven and let it cool to the touch.
Scoop out the flesh and place it in a large bowl (or blender).
Mix with an immersion blender (or regular blender in batches) until smooth.
Allow the purée to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container in the freezer. I like to seriously FILL up gallon sized ziplock bags, lay them flat in the freezer then store them upright next to each other.
When you’re ready to use your squash, let it defrost in the bag on a pan or in a bowl to collect the moisture that runs off. Empty the contents into a sieve or cheesecloth lined strainer. This helps get the water content out of the purée which makes the flavor more potent. If you don’t freeze the squash, you can still let some of the water drain out or skip this step.
