Twice Baked Butternut Squash

Do you ever have foods that you wish you liked more than you do? I feel that way about winter squash. Almost every year, at least once I get totally sucked into the total Autumn festive-ness that is the winter squash table in the produce isle. They are colorful and comprise all kinds of fun shapes and textures and just seem to embody everything that I love about fall! And so I promptly forget that I don't really care for them, buy a couple and then inevitably it goes like this: I cook up the first one with all kinds of excitement, feel disappointed after the first bite, wonder how in the world I can dislike something that looks so darn pretty and then struggle through the leftovers.

This is precisely what happened a week or two ago when my weekly grocery trip landed me with an acorn squash and butternut squash. The acorn squash is the prettier one so I cooked it first. (Do you see how my mind works???) I just roasted it in the oven and ate it with a little butter and salt and pepper. It was "okay." I think I still have some of it in a tupperware on the bottom shelf of my fridge. Since the acorn squash was a little anti-climatic, that poor, plain butternut squash has been hanging out by itself for a couple weeks in my produce basket.

Yesterday, being my day off, left me feeling inspired to cook something nice for dinner for my sweetheart and I. He is not a picky eater and likes to be adventurous once in a while, so he is a good person to try out new recipes on. I looked online for some ideas on what to do with that butternut squash and low and behold, found an idea that looked fun on the Martha Stewart website. It turned out really good. Jeff approved and proceeded to eat 3/4 of that squash all by himself (and it was a big butternut!)

The original recipe was for 6 squash! I only prepared one. I will put the original quantities below. Just cut back accordingly on the proportions depending on how many you do.

Twice-Baked Butternut Squash


6 butternut squash (or about 9 lbs)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon nonfat sour cream (I used the dairy-free Tofutti brand, which substitutes beautifully)
2 tsp paprika
6 fresh chives, cut into 1/8-inch pieces
3 tablespoons fresh breadcrumbs, lightly toasted (Used gluten-free ones and they worked great)

- Heat oven to 450 degrees with the rack in center. Cut the squash in 1/2 lengthwise, remove seeds and fibers and sprinkle with a little of the salt and pepper. Fill a roasting pan with 1/4 inch of water and place the squash in, flesh side up. Cover with foil and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the flesh is tender.
- Reduce oven heat to 425 degrees.
- Remove the squash and cool until you can handle it. Scoop out the flesh, leaving about 1/4 inch with the skin so it will hold its shape.
- In a bowl, combine the flesh and all remaining ingredients except the breadcrumbs with a hand mixer or potato masher so that it is smooth and creamy. Spoon the filling back into the squash skins, top with breadcrumbs and bake for another 20-30 minutes until heated through and slightly browned on top.

For my seasonings, I used my Penzey's Smoked Paprika and added in a little chipotle seasoning. So my dish was a little bit spicy. If I could eat it, I might have added in a little parmesan cheese to the breadcrumbs on top. This would also be really delicious if you were to make it sweet instead of savory and mix in some cinnamon and nutmeg and a little brown sugar with maybe some toasted walnuts on top. Yum!

I have actually found my first squash dish that I will definitely make again and that makes me happy. I hope you enjoy it!