Ingredient

Butternut squash

Butternut is the winter squash that won, and deservedly — it has a small seed cavity, a thick neck of solid flesh, a skin thin enough to eat when roasted, and a dense sweet texture that holds together. The main obstacle is getting into it, and there is a right way to do that.

Breaking one down without a fight

Squash is hard and round, which is the worst combination for knife safety. Take the round out first.

1. Cut a slice off the top and the bottom so it has two flat ends and cannot roll.
2. Stand it upright and cut across where the narrow neck meets the round bulb. You now have two manageable pieces with flat faces.
3. Peel each piece with a sturdy peeler or a knife, standing them on a flat end. The neck is easy; the bulb takes a little more work.
4. Halve the bulb and scoop the seeds and fibres out with a spoon. The neck is solid flesh with no cavity at all — this is butternut's advantage over most squashes.
5. Cut both pieces into whatever shape the dish wants. If it is fighting you, microwave the whole squash for a few minutes first to soften the skin slightly.
6. Keep the seeds. Rinsed, dried, tossed in oil and salt and roasted, they are excellent.

Why roasting is almost always right

Butternut is about eighty-five per cent water and full of sugar. Put it in liquid and you dilute the flavour into the liquid; put it on a hot dry tray and the water evaporates while the sugars concentrate and caramelise at the surface.

The difference is not subtle. Boiled squash is watery and mild. Roasted squash is sweet, dense and nutty, with browned edges. Even for soup — where it is going into liquid eventually — roasting first and then blending gives a soup that tastes of far more than simmering the raw cubes.

The corollary is the usual one for browning: a single layer with space between the pieces. Crowded squash steams in its own moisture and comes out pale and soft, which is the commonest complaint about it.

What to do with it

• Roasted in wedges or cubes, with olive oil, salt and something warm — chilli flakes, cumin, sage, thyme, or za'atar.
• Soup, roasted first, blended with stock, finished with cream or coconut milk. Chilli, ginger, curry spice or nutmeg all suit it.
• Halved and roasted whole, cut side down, then scooped or stuffed.
• In a risotto, cubed and roasted, folded through at the end with sage and parmesan.
• Pasta — with brown butter and sage, or in ravioli, where the sweetness against salty cheese is the classic Italian treatment.
• Curry and tagine, where it holds its shape and takes spice well.
• Raw, shaved very thin into a salad with lemon and parmesan, which almost nobody does and which is very good.
• Skin on. Butternut skin is thin enough to be pleasant when roasted in wedges. It is only worth peeling for purée and soup.

What its sweetness needs

Squash is sweet and soft, so almost everything good you do to it supplies contrast.

• Salt, and more than you think. Under-salted squash tastes cloying.
• Acid — lemon, lime, vinegar, pomegranate molasses, tamarind. This is the most commonly missed one.
• Heat — chilli, black pepper, ginger, harissa.
• Salty cheese — parmesan, feta, blue cheese, ricotta salata.
• Something crunchy — toasted seeds, pine nuts, hazelnuts, breadcrumbs.
• Herbs with backbone — sage, thyme, rosemary; and coriander or mint on the fresher side.
• Fat — brown butter and olive oil both work, and brown butter with sage is close to a perfect match.

Common questions