Winter Squash

Our Food Editor Christine guides us through Winter Squash: Delicata, Kobocha and Sweet Dumpling. 

Fall has arrived here in the Northeast! It makes me feel a little melancholy to see the days getting shorter, but I really love getting in the kitchen this time of year. For me, summer food is all about doing as little as possible to the gorgeous ripe produce that is displayed on farmers market tables like jewels on velvet. You slice a tomato, lightly steam or blanch corn and green beans, add some good bread and you’ve got yourself a feast. Fall and winter cooking, cooler weather, and that innate sense of cozying in for a chilly winter means a little more time spent puttering over recipes, slowly simmering a comforting soup or baking something gooey and rich in the oven that fills the house with delicious smells.

One of the most gorgeous and versatile gifts of fall is the pumpkins and squashes that start to arrive in the markets. As beautiful as sculptures, they look wonderful piled on the table as a bright centerpiece. But they aren’t just for decoration. If you’ve ever stood in front of a table heaped with winter squash and thought “I know what to do with the butternut, but what in the world are these other things for?” I am here to help!

First, a lot of the giant orange pumpkins we see this time of year are bred for decoration, for carving into jack-o-lanterns, and not for cooking. They tend to be lighter weight with flesh that is pulpy and spongy and not particularly flavorful. Good baking pumpkins or squashes are going to be very heavy for their size with thick, dense flesh.  Like butternut squash, they are thick fleshed and tough skinned, best for slow roasting. Other squashes are thinner and more delicate with edible skins, great to roast in rings or wedges or to stuff with sweet or savory fillings like cornbread stuffing, savory bread pudding or a simple sweet custard. They’re all nutritionally dense, high in beta-carotene, potassium, natural fiber, and vitamin B.

Delicata 

Delicata is a versatile, thin-skinned and thin-walled squash. It looks like an ivory yellow and green striped zeppelin, with a thing wall of dark yellow flesh. Buy delicata that feels really hard and rigid when you gently squeeze it.  It cooks quickly and the skin is edible so there is no need to peel it.  It’s great to stuff and bake or just slice into rings, toss with olive oil and spices and roast until golden brown.

Sweet Dumpling is a little sort of apple-shaped squash with sweet flesh. It’s the perfect single-serving squash with the same ivory and green stripes as the delicata. I make a stuffing out of cubes of cornbread with butter, sautéed onion, sage, and toasted pecans, salt and pepper, and roast it until the squash is tender and the top of the stuffing is golden. I’d add some dried cranberries or sautéed mushrooms like porcini or shiitake for a really nice vegetarian main course for Thanksgiving dinner.

Kabocha 

Kabocha is a very gnarly bumpy-skinned rounded green pumpkin with thick, deep orange flesh. It has really sweet, dense flavor and a smooth texture, almost like a sweet potato. I crack it open with a heavy sharp knife, scoop out the seeds and then slow-roast the wedges at around 250 until the orange flesh is soft, then scoop it away from the tough green skin. Once it’s cooked it will puree to a very smooth texture, which makes it great for pie, soup, or in a luxurious rosemary-scented lasagna with layers of squash, rosemary- infused béchamel sauce, pasta, and Parmigiano Reggiano.

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