Roasted Squash and Her Name is Sweet Mama

Today is squash roasting day! As fall is in the air, the leaves have begun to change, and women everywhere have begun to pull out their array of boots and shoes that were waiting in the wings all summer. I have some recipes to test that called for regular pumpkin but I saw this beauty at the store and remembered how delightful she tasted in soup when I made one with her donkey years ago. 

This squash is a product of Quebec, she is called a Sweet Mama and this is her bio: I have a sweet orange & soft flesh, a light taste of hazelnut, am rich in fiber, beta-carotene, & am low in calories. Useful for: Soups, stews, couscous, raw, fries, muffins, pies, and puree. Can be substituted for buttercup squash.

Thank you to Le Potager Mont-Rouge whom are a member of the agro-environmental club & were kind enough to include the useful tid bits of info You just read.

So for today we roast, then cool, puree, and tomorrow we play. As always, pics abound.

Preheat oven to 375F

Using a knife, CAREFULLY cut the sweet mama squash, (not yo mama silly) in half and then proceed to use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and mushy guts of your squash buddy. Should look like this:

When they are all cleaned out they will look like this:

As you can see I have placed them on a parchment lined flat baking sheet, you are to do the same; this is not a super juicy squash so you need not worry about it leaking all over your oven.

Now, take your olive oil and rub about 1-2 Tbsp in each half to be sure it has something to help it roast and create a nice brown seal that will keep in some moisture and prevent burning. DO NOT DROWN IT IN OLIVE OIL! Be gentle to your squash please, it should look like this: 

I do not add salt or pepper as I use this in sweet and savory applications when cooking. Now you flip them over face down and put them in the oven to roast. Like this: 

Roast these beauties for 1 hour, (set the timer) and then turn off the oven leaving them in for an additional 15-25 mins depending on the size of your squash. Smaller=shorter cook time

Larger=longer cook time

This is what they look like when they come out:

You can see that they come out looking pickle green, when I push on them they indent a bit and when you turn them over they are fork tender. That means a fork easily pokes into the flesh and comes out no probs. So this is the gorgeous roasted flesh side when turned over:

I know, breathtaking! Lol

Now let it cool completely and then you may scoop and use in any recipe as you please. This is also great for babies when pureed and cooled. Happy fall days!