Squash Two Ways

I have a lot of squash.  My motto is "buy them while they're cheap".  I mean, right now you can pick up a 6 or 7 pound butternut squash for a buck or two.  Give it a couple of months and those babies would be $1.69/lb.  So I have them piled on the counter...I figure they're ornamental.  LOL. 

Not sure how that turnip snuck in there.....it's more of a prop than anything!  This picture was taken after I removed the smaller of the two butternut squash.  I didn't do a whole lot in the way of grocery shopping last weekend, preferring to spend what little money I had on fruit & veggies from the farmer's market.  So we're a little shy on other things that the kids expect....like, you know, meat.  The squash I selected weighed in at 4 1/2 lbs.  I found two recipes that looked perfect - one I'd done before and one I hadn't.

First up, I made a version of Squash and Ricotta Pasta Bake, except I had no ricotta so I substituted a tablespoon of light cream cheese and a couple more of some ranch veggie dip that was kicking around the fridge.  Why not?  I'm still trying to make room for that turkey.  I also had to cobble together enough tomatoes, using a partial can of diced tomatoes, some cherry tomatoes from the garden, and a bit of tomato paste.  It actually turned out really well, but I was so hungry I neglected to take a picture.  I even managed to feed a portion to the picky eater!  But he fed the large pieces of squash to the dogs.  I'm sure he still got some of the goodness out of it in the sauce.  Personally, I don't miss the meat at all in this dish.

Next up, another Jamie's Great Britain recipe.  Funny, since I still don't have the damn book.  I checked the Chapters web site, and they say it was released on Sept. 27th, but for some reason my pre-order hasn't been shipped.  So I cancelled it and will hopefully be able to pick it up in person this weekend.  Thank goodness for the online site!

297.  Roasted Squash and Apple Soup (Jamie's Great Britain, page ??)

JamieOliver.com recipe link

This recipe calls for 3 eating apples.  I had 4 of my very own, golden delicious apples from the tree in the backyard in the fridge, just chilling out and waiting to be used.  I was pleasantly surprised when I peeled them to find that they were just about perfect inside.  So I quartered them, along with a large onion, and added them to a baking sheet with the remainder of the cubed squash.  I deseeded a couple of red chiles as well, and sprinkled the works with  ground coriander, salt, and pepper.  I tossed everything in a few glugs of olive oil and put the tray in the oven to roast for 45 minutes.

In the meantime, I washed the seeds from the squash, removing all the orange gloopy stuff, dried them on some paper towel, and spread them on another baking sheet.  I seasoned them with salt, pepper, and cayenne, and tossed them in olive oil.  They went into the oven for the last 10 minutes.

Afterwards, I threw everything except the seeds into the food processor, along with a bit of stock, and pureed until smooth.  Then I poured it into a large pot, added the rest of the stock, and seasoned with salt and pepper.  Instead of light cream, I added some unsweetened soy milk until the soup was the right consistency. 

 

 

Jamie wanted me to add an "80's swirl" of cream to my soup, but I just garnished with the toasted seeds and called it dessert.  :)  It actually wasn't far from the mark, because of the sweetness of those apples!  And here I've been putting most of them to the curb because I thought they weren't perfect enough.  Craziness. 

 

All in all, this whole evening of cooking cost me less than $5.  There's more than half a pan of pasta bake left and enough soup to feed a small army....or fill my freezer, whichever comes first.  ;)

 

This post has been linked to the Wednesday Fresh Foods Link Up at Gastronomical Sovereignty!