Act 6; Scene 11: How to use Butternut Squash in a Million Different Ways

...well, maybe not a million. But it felt like a million. 

This year I planted one, ONE butternut squash plant. And it exploded similar to the zucchini plants I've planted in the past. It too up nearly half of our garden, I was constantly trimming it down!

Here is a picture of the last bounty we picked before pulling up the plant. Keep in mind, I had picked a bunch of them all season before this group was collected: 

Oh man, it's been fun to figure out what to do with all of these. 

We did a couple different soups

Butternut Apple Harvest recipe here

Roasted butternut squash and bacon

Cream cheese recipe

I did butternut squash lasagna

Delicious!

Many different kinds of roasted squash:

Did this one a couple times

Surprisingly yummy muffins

My neighbor even asked for this recipe

Even a butternut squash pie!

regular pumpkin pie recipe--just used butternut squash instead.

And now--the votes are in, for the two yummiest butternut squash dishes of the season.

Robert's favorite: butternut squash fries!

Whole recipe and great pictures here

These are so easy! Just slice them thin, drizzle in olive oil and salt, and roast in the oven. Then add some parsley flakes (and more salt if desired). I was so surprised to hear Robert say the word "love" associated with any kind of squash, but he said he loved these!  

And now, Carson's favorite: creamy butternut squash pasta sauce!

Delicious recipe here!

I really have no excuse for not taking a picture of this one myself. I liked it so much, I have made it THREE different times! Once for us, once for our neighbors when they had their baby, and once for our New Year's Eve dinner with my parents, it's THAT good! Some extra pepper on top makes it even better. And it makes a lot. In fact, we just ate leftovers for dinner, and we have more left over for lunch tomorrow (yay!). Scarlet, my 11 month old (well, only a week shy of ONE!! Ah!) especially loves this. And that makes me feel great, because butternut squash is insanely good for you.

I have three butternut squash left in the garage, and some ziplock bags of frozen puree. We still have a few adventures to go! If you feel like planting something that will really go far, try a butternut squash plant this summer. Then you will see how much they charge for them at the store, and pat yourself on the back every time you go through the produce isles. :-)

Happy Squashing! :-)

If you have any great butternut squash recipes, please let me know! I'd love to try them!