Build Me Up Butternut

While contemplating what to do with 13 butternut squash, I found myself singing "Build Me Up, Buttercup." Thought I'd pass that along before going any further.

When a local farm stand closed for the season around Halloween, they had a bushel sale and we picked up a bushel of butternut squash for $18. Since then I have used exactly 1 squash: half cooked with aduki beans and half made into buckwheat soup. I know I can always make these again. But what ELSE can I do with so much butternut squash? It seems like a great opportunity to experiment, ask around and find some new recipes.

I may have a bit of a disability when it comes to butternut squash because I have the opposite of a sweet tooth--call it a "savory tooth." When it comes to entrees at least, I am not big on sweet stuff, like sweet potatoes, brown bread, cranberry sauce, sweet & sour pork, etc. I prefer my main dishes and sides to be salty, garlicky, cheesy, herbed or spicy. I searched at TasteSpotting for butternut squash (which seems pretty similar to Food Gawker, what's the difference?). I found a certain uniformity among the choices--several seem to go with bleu cheese or sage as main ingredients. I can see how these would offer a nice counterpoint to the squash sweetness, but my dining partner won't eat bleu cheese and it's not sage season around here. There are also several recipes for sweet muffins, pureed soups, risottos and pastas all heavily featuring BS (I will now use this as my acronym). These just seemed too "sweet squashy" to me. Out of all, I was intrigued by the use of brie, kale, onions, sausages and shallots in some recipes. Here are a few I might try to make or riff from:

Scraping the Skillet has a recipe for Rustic Butternut Squash Tart with poblano peppers and cilantro

A Series of Kitchen Experiments made Herbed Ravioli with Butternut Filling and Beurre Noisette

Dishing Up Delights posted about Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette in Rosemary Pie Crust

Miami's Bitchin Camero made Butternut Squash Tortilla Soup

Kumquat Connection wrote up a fascinating take on BS with pizzettas featuring pistachios & basil

Now that's what I'm talkin' about!