Butternut squash
Cucurbita moschata · Squash
Top 10 pairings
Butternut squash is a tan-skinned, pear- or bell-shaped winter squash with dense, deep-orange flesh, a long solid neck and a small seed cavity in the bulbous base. Smooth, sweet and nutty when roasted, puréed into soup or cubed for risotto, it is the classic autumn partner to sage, brown butter and nutmeg.
Picking a good onedrag
Cured hard, dead matteSoft-spotted, damp, mouldy
Shop storedBuy itStill all-purpose - roast, soup, mash, risotto.
StemShort stem, dry and firm
RindTan with pale healed field scars
ThumbnailNail just marks it, still weighty
Smell at the stemFaintly sweet squash at the scar
What you get from one
84%
Edible part
1,260 g · rind, seeds and ends off
1500 g
Weight each
each one
Keeping ittap a temperature
Below 10 C the rind pits and the flesh goes watery, so a whole squash keeps worse in the fridge than on a shelf; cut pieces are the exception, so wrap and chill those.
50-70%
Humidity
Open and airy
Airflow