Butternut Squash Bake

Kumquat the Cat's friend's Note:

Before I knew the difference between a butternut squash and spaghetti squash, I bought the former by accident and discovered the taste was much better than spaghetti squash in this recipe. There are other spaghetti squash recipes posted but IMHO this is simpler, lighter and fresher tasting. There is less clean-up involved too. I think the original recipe was based off one I found in The New Basics cookbook.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 20 mins
• Prep Time: 1 hrs
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 large butternut squash (aka pumpkin squash)
• 1 garlic clove , minced
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 2 tomatoes , chopped
• 1 ½ cups part-skim mozzarella cheese , shredded
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese
• 4 -5 scallions , sliced

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut squash in half, scoop out seeds, peel and cut into 1-inch cubes. (Received a suggestion from a more experienced chef here on 'zaar, peeling will be easier if squash is cut into smaller chunks first.).
3. Toss with garlic and olive oil and pour mixture into 2 quart baking dish.
4. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring twice. Meanwhile, chop tomatoes.
5. Remove baking dish from oven, add salt and pepper and mash the squash up a bit with the back of a spoon. In the following order, top with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, parmesan and scallions.
6. Return to oven and bake, uncovered, for 30 more minutes or until hot and bubbly and cheese has melted.

Reviews

[Chef #1435557]

Yummy! I made some variations (added cut-up sausage links, canned diced tomatoes, had to use American cheese, wild onion grass instead of shallots and most importantly, less cooking time!) but this dish was very tasty and beautiful. Will make it a regular cold-weather meal. Thank you!

[najwa]

A different taste combo. Thanks for posting!

[anme]

I have been on a squash kick lately so this recipe was calling me. I skipped the oil and just sprayed the squash with some cooking spray. I also used low fat cheeses. I love the simplicity of this dish, but the depth of the flavor is great. I scaled this down to serve one person and used a tiny squash. Great recipe!