Hi everyone, Jess here.
In an ongoing effort to keep food from the CSA swap boxes I wanted to shed some light on how to make short work of your giant Hubbard squash.
A lot of folks are intimidated by the behemoth that is the Hubbard squash. If you are amongst this crowd, let me assure you it is truly not as overwhelming as it looks. The biggest part of the squash is just hollow cavity and plump delicious seeds (better than pumpkin seeds in my opinion, so roast ’em up!)
I start by taking my squash and wrapping it in newspaper, an old towel or sheet, or something of the like. Next, I throw it down the steps onto a concrete surface (my garage, my driveway, I mix it up).
I’m left with a squash that’s conveniently broken into a bunch of pieces. Gone are the days of struggling for upwards of an hour to saw this thing open, thanks to my fellow Springdellians for teaching me this tip!
Next I take a grapefruit spoon (the serrated edges are good for this, but a regular spoon works fine too) and scrape the loose pulp and seeds from the pieces. (Pictured is one of Sarah’s squashes that shows what I mean).
After that, I roast the pieces on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees until the flesh is tender, usually about 45 minutes. I roasted one half similar to the one pictured, because it didn’t break into smaller pieces, and it roasted just fine.
The next part is pretty easy. I scoop and puree the flesh, mix with remaining ingredients, pour into the pie shells and bake until I have this:
It’s puffed up when it first comes out of the oven as you can see, but settles down after cooling.
The result is delicious comfort food, especially with freshly whipped cream.
If I have any leftover Hubbard squash puree after baking these 2 pies, I drizzle in a little bit of maple syrup and serve warm with Amish roll butter. That’s the happy end of the beast that is the giant Hubbard – a side for dinner, a scrumptious dessert, and a bit extra to share with a neighbor or friend. Remember, when stored correctly, these keep for up to 6 months, so you can do this every couple of months or so, depending on how many you have on hand. Enjoy!
Hubbard Squash Pie
This recipe makes 2 pies, but if you find that you do not have enough puree after roasting your squash, simply halve the recipe. It takes about 2 1/2 hours including squash roasting time, but it can be made in stages, so don’t feel like you need to do this whole thing start-to-finish in one wallop. If you have any purée left over, enjoy it with maple syrup and Amish Roll Butter!
Ingredients:
- 1 Hubbard squash, thrown down the stairs and broken into pieces, seeds removed (see above)
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 cup heavy cream (if you have extra, make whipped cream to serve this with)
- 1 teaspoon salt (I use Kosher salt, which works out fine)
- 2 prepared pie crusts
- 4 tablespoons butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
Directions:
- Roast your squash pieces on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes or until fork tender. (Meanwhile, prepare your pie crusts). Cool slightly until safe to handle, scoop off the flesh and place into a blender to puree until smooth, working in batches as needed.
- Reduce your oven temperature to 375.
- In a large mixing bowl, add 4 generous cups of squash purée, eggs, brown sugar, cream, salt, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Mix until smooth.
- Pour filling into pie shells and bake pies on the middle rack at 375 for one hour. (I’ll usually put a cookie sheet or foil on a lower rack to catch any possible filling drippings).
- Cool completely (it’ll be a little mushy if you don’t, but still good if you can’t wait to dig in) and enjoy with freshly whipped cream!