One of the quintessential fall produce items is winter squash, and I am loving it! However, I wasn’t always a squash fan. I remember once going over to a friend’s house in high school and they served huge halves of acorn squash with brown sugar as the sole dinner item. I liked the flavor fine, but after eating such a large amount of it, the texture started getting to me. Now I happily eat squash and can truthfully say that I love it!
Delicata squash played an important role in helping me learn to love squash. This sweet squash is absolutely delicious. We typically cut it in half, seed it and roast it slathered in butter, and sometimes just a touch of maple syrup. Delicious. But my now four year old seems to have a bit of a hard time with the texture, just like I used to. But when I made these delicata squash “fries” (as she named them), she loved them, and Joel and I did too. We like butternut squash fries, but they do tend to be pretty soft and you have to be really careful not to overcrowd the pan otherwise they will get soggy. These stay firm and have a much closer texture to potatoes. And with their natural sweetness, they are a great treat. I think that a lot of young children could like these.
We loved them simply roasted, but they would also be delicious with a little Mexican flare with cumin and garlic, or you could highlight it’s natural sweetness with a bit of maple syrup or honey too. I think that squash carries many flavors well (I think that a curry version could be good too!).
Roasted Delicata Squash Slices (or “Fries”)
About 2 pounds of Delicata Squash
2-4 tablespoons melted coconut oil, lard, tallow, olive oil, or choice of fat/oil (I used coconut oil)
Salt and pepper
1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2) Peel and seed the squash. I find that having a sharp, high quality peeler very helpful when peeling squash. Cut into about 1/2 inch slices.
3) Place on a jelly roll ran and pour the oil/fat over the slices and salt and pepper it. Toss gently with your hands and evenly spread out on the pan and place in the upper half of the oven. Roast for about 40 minutes or until the squash is tender when pierced with a fork and starting to brown on the sides.
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I have 4 delicata squashes I just picked from my garden. I’m definitely going to make these “fries” for my 3 year old. Thanks!
Yum. Delicata are my favorite! I just tried some pan sauteed, with the skins on, at the farmer’s market. It was such an easy way to make it!
Wow, these look delicious! I will definitely be trying this!
Oh yes. I’ve done this with butternut squash before and it’s great!!
Oh, I just got a couple in my CSA box. I love these, but I’ve only prepared them pan-fried with the skins on. I will have to check this out this weekend.
Can you post some ideas for butternut? I’m a squash newbie!
So do you EAT the skins?
hello kimi – i have just found your blog & really enjoying it…a friend recently gave me sally fallon’s book as well so I am learning lots! We eat lots of winter squash here in NZ. I have been trying it with my 2.5 yr old since he was eating solids & he’s had difficulty with it – I think it perhaps is a bit gassy? But the other day I chopped up small cubes, roasted with olive oil and then had it on a pizza with steamed silverbeet, mushrooms, caramelised onions & tomato/garlic sauce, & some cheese on top. He (and we!) thought that was delicious!
I think the skins are delicious when roasted, so perhaps it’s worth trying this way, too! Maybe a crumble of sage or thyme would be good, too.
I love your creativity in the kitchen, Kimi.
Can’t wait to try the fries, though, I agree, skins on!
Thanks!
Sounds fantastic. I have some winter squash that I need to use up, but I’d like to try something new. Might try this today.
I tried this with a small butternut and the result was delicious. I sprinkled a little tamari and wasabi paste on some of the fries — yum!
Thanks for the recipe. I have a couple of these squash on my counter right now and wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them. I think I’ll give this a try.
P.S. I was going to send you an email directly but don’t see an option for doing that. In different posts I’ve noticed you’ve used it’s when you really mean its. “It’s” always stands for it is, while “its” with no apostrophe is the possessive form.
Thanks SM. Just wait until I am blogging after the baby is born and I am getting little sleep. I am sure my grammar skills will go way down then! LOL
we LOVE these too — just had them the other night and my kids do call them fries. And yep, we leave the skin on and eat it all — delicious!! Putting it on my list to buy some more 🙂
We are swamped with winter squash from my CSA. After a little research, I decided to cook some of our delicatas, one with green stripes and one with orange stripes. I made them tonight based on your recipe with a sweet and sour curry marinade (rice wine vinegar, honey, ponzu, siracha, curry powder and just a hint of cinnamon) it was a HUGE hit with both generations. Thanks!!
P.S. No peeling, yay!
I love all of the variations everyone is doing! How fun!
And to all of you non-peelers, my hat is off to you. 🙂 We don’t personally like eating the peels, but it would sure be a lot easier not to peel it.
We love delicatas. Just had them over the weekend fried with bite sized pieces of bacon and some onion (aka squashbrowns). I like extra garlic powder and some yummy sea salt on them.
They make an amazing topping for shepherd’s pie, and I far prefer it to cauliflower or even potatoes. I peel, cube, and cook in some water until tender and drain. Mash with some cream cheese, butter, garlic powder (no extra liquid or it gets too runny). Use that to top whatever shepherd’s pie type of mix you like (or cottage pie or whatever you want to call it LOL). So good!
ok, please tell me what Delicata’s look like. I have only done acorn and butternut squash. I had a recipe for roasted winter squash and the produce man said that all fall squash is winter squash. Is this correct, so that my recipe could mean any squash? I can’t wait to start getting my CSA box.
These look delicious! I linked back to your post on my blog, thanks for the idea!
Love delicata squash. It’s so hard to get here in eastern Canada. Using an acorn squash I do the same but add a little curry for the added nutrients.
I love delicata squash. This squash is hard to find here in eastern Canada. Using an acorn squash I do the same and add a little curry for the extra nutrients.