Supposedly, squash gets sweeter as it's left to mature...so, you know...that was all in the plan... ;)
I saw a recipe in Sunset magazine that seemed like a good way to use the squash somewhat in disguise. My kids love a lot of fruits and vegetables, but squash unfortunately isn't one of them. Having some time this Sunday afternoon, I made a batch of squash gnocchi. Some for tonight and the rest for the freezer.
The basic recipe is like this:
- Cook a butternut squash. You can roast it, steam it or microwave it. I did the latter - poke holes all over and put it in the microwave on high for 10 minutes. (Mine needed a bit more cooking afterwards).
- Scoop out the flesh and mash. You need 2 cups.
- Season: salt, pepper, nutmeg, sage/marjoram/thyme. You could have fun and add Indian spices - that would be yum.
- Add flour, 1 cup at a time. Now, I used King Arthur's white whole wheat flour. The recipe calls for 3.5 cups + dusting. My squash took at least all of that...maybe even a bit more!
- Roll out into 'snakes', cut into 1/2" pieces.
- Boil in salted water just until they float - no longer.
Beware: the dough remains a bit sticky. I tried to do the Italian nonna thing by rolling each little gnoccho down a fork to get the grooves. It didn't work so well...I do not recommend. Just leave them in their little pillow form and enjoy.
