You have all this squash that you pre-cooked, because you’re trying to get ahead. Good for you! Consider making mashed squash. You know, like mashed potatoes, but with squash. My favorites: acorn or butternut. The acorn is more creamy than the butternut, but they both make a nice mash that will fill you up without weighing you down.
It’s easy:
Step 1: Take the skin off.
Step 2: Warm up the already cooked squash either in a pan or in the microwave. You want it truly hot. It doesn’t matter if it’s in pieces because you’re going to squish it anyway.
Step 3: At this point, you have to make a crucial decision: sweet or savory? Most squash strike a sweet note in your food. Not sweet like candy; sweet like a hint of honey. Do you want to take that slightly sweet note and use it contrast it with savory, or do you want to enhance that note and go full-on sweet? Life is full of choices, and this one is on you. The good thing is, at less than a dollar a pound, you can choose the other option next week.
If you choose sweet: add butter, a sweetener like honey, agave, or maple syrup. Add some salt. Yes, salt—the salt will make the sweet sweeter. Then add a little spice, like cinnamon, or nutmeg, or cloves. Be sparing!! You are not making pumpkin pie! Now mash and mix with a potato masher (or your electric mixer, if you must). Serve hot and enjoy!
If you choose savory: add butter (yes, always), salt and pepper, and a savory spice or herb, like sage and thyme. I like to use a teensy weensy bit of cayenne, or some red pepper flakes. Be careful! Start with a pinch, no more. Mash and serve with a jalapeno on top!
My friend sat at the table the other night at dinner, informed me that he did not like squash. He ate two full servings of mashed butternut squash with hot chili honey in it. I rest my case.