Three Winter Squash Recipes to Cook This Fall, From Salad to Tart
A cookbook author offers a maple-glazed squash salad, a squash and leek soup, and a pumpkin tart with a gingersnap crust.
By Luka Evans ·
The words pumpkin spice have begun appearing in coffee shop windows, on restaurant menus, and even at the dry cleaners.
Autumn brings a blaze of color in New England, with warm days and chilly nights, and winter squash of all kinds is abundant in farmers markets and shops this time of year.
The first recipe is a salad of maple-glazed roasted pumpkin or winter squash slices paired with fall greens, maple-glazed pumpkin seeds, and a maple syrup dressing. It serves 6 and uses a 2-pound kabocha or honeynut squash, peeled and cut into half-inch pieces, roasted at 425 degrees for 12 minutes, then drizzled with 1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup and roasted another 10 to 15 minutes until tender. The seeds are cooked in a skillet with olive oil, butter, and maple syrup until coated, then drained and salted. The dressing uses juices from the roasting pan, mustard, maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil.
The second recipe is a squash and leek soup that serves 4 to 6 and takes under an hour. It starts with 3 to 5 leeks cooked covered over low heat for 10 minutes, then adds about 5 cups of cubed honeynut, acorn, or other winter squash and 4 to 5 cups of stock. After the squash is tender, about 15 minutes, the soup rests 5 minutes and is pureed. It can be finished with a drizzle of heavy cream or fried sage leaves, and a vegan version uses vegetable stock with no dairy.
The third recipe is a pumpkin cream cheese tart with a gingersnap crust that serves 6. The crust uses about 7 ounces of gingersnaps, 4 tablespoons melted butter, and a pinch of ground ginger, pressed into a 9-inch tart pan and baked at 325 degrees for 6 minutes. The filling combines brown sugar, one egg, 6 ounces of cream cheese, 1 cup of pumpkin puree, and spices including ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. It bakes about 50 minutes until the center is firm, then chills at least 2 hours. It is served with chopped gingersnaps, coarse sea salt, and whipped cream.
Pumpkins and winter squash varieties such as butternut, hubbard, and honeynut can be used interchangeably in these recipes.
