VegBox Recipes

Squashes

We are close to declaring squashes our favourite of all the ingredients we write about. Maybe it’s the sheer variety of them in all their amazing ornamental shapes, sizes and colours. Maybe it’s their versatility for cooking savoury and sweet dishes with.

We also love that they all grow on plants from the Curcurbitacea family, and so are related to courgettes, cucumbers, melons and LOOFAHS (we don’t recommend eating these)!!!

Originally native to Central and North America, many varieties have since been bred to weather colder climes.

In Season?: Depends on the type of squash - see the individual squash pages linked to above.

More Squashes Information

Their seasons vary according to type.

Here’s a quick guide:

"Summer squashes", including courgettes and patty pans (which are beautiful) are immature squashes with very thin skins, available from July, and are for eating straight away, not storing.

"Winter squashes" like spaghetti squashes, pumpkins and the trusty butternut have really tough skins and if stored correctly will last for up to a year. You can expect to see them from September onwards.

And Finally….

Ancient peoples supposedly used squash-based treatments to "cure" freckles (which are also known as ‘ephelides’).

Cure them?! What’s wrong with freckles, we want to know!

Hot Patty Pan Salsa
This is a deliciously simple recipe for patty pan squashes (also called custard squash or scallop squash). The secret ingredient turns it into a tasty, hot salsa, with lots of potential variations. Great with rice, quinoa or as a jacket potato filling.
Ingredients Serves 4 2 large carrots 2 medium red onions 6-8 patty pan squashes 1 clove garlic 8-10 cherry tomatoes 1 level tablespoon fresh oregano leaves, chopped 1 tablespoon olive oil salt and pepper to taste
Method Peel the onion and chop it finely. Scrub the carrots and slice thinly. Peel and crush the garlic clove. Slice the ends off the patty pan squash and chop into 1cm (½ inch) chunks. Warm the olive oil in a large pan and gently saute the onion and carrots until softening, for about 5-8 minutes. Add the patty pan squashes and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes. Wash and dry the tomatoes. Slice in half. Add to the pan. Mix well and cook for a further 3-4 minutes, until the tomatoes have formed a thick paste. Add the oregano leaves and season to taste. Great with quinoa, brown rice or as a jacket potato filling.
Cupboard-To-Table 20 - 25 minutes

Suggested Squashes Recipes

Aoki Sweetcorn & Chilli Butternut Squash

I discovered this delicious recipe when I was living with a Japanese family in Argentina! It seems to be a mix of both cultures. It works well with squashes or pumpkin and is delicious served with the red cabbage salad. You can use pumpkin instead of squash, if you prefer.

Autumn Vegetable Soup

This is a great way of using up the end of your veg box. It works well with most vegetables. It's a tasty, but healthy recipe, because you don't even need to use any fat. Just prepare the veggies, chuck them in a pan with the stock and stir occasionally. My kind of after-work cooking!

Autumn Vegetable Stir Fry

This is a quick and easy way of using up any leftovers in your autumn veg box. We've listed the ingredients we most commonly use, but you can adapt this recipe to suit whatever you've got spare.

Baked Butternut Squash

This recipe works equally well with butternut squash or pumpkin. It can go in the oven while you're cooking the rest of your meal and the roasting causes the sugars to caramelise, giving the squash an even sweeter flavour.

Baked Gem Squash

Baking gem squash is one of the simplest ways of serving them. Being small, gem squash work particularly well and they bake evenly.

Buttered Gem Squash

This recipe is really simple - just bake the squash, scoop out the flesh and mix with butter and salt. And it mostly cooks itself, while you get on with the rest of dinner.

Butternut Squash & Almond Cake

Yes, you read it right! We do mean cake. Squashes are sweet and creamy in texture when cooked, meaning they work beautifully to puddings. Works well with any squash or pumpkin.

Butternut Squash / Pumpkin Puree

This butternut squash recipe (also great with pumpkin) is incredibly simple and makes a great weaning food for little ones. Or you can serve it as a side vegetable for older eaters!

Creamy Parsnip & Squash Bake

This recipe has been generously shared by the lovely folks over at Foodari.

Creamy Pumpkin and Black Bean Chili

We've been given permission to share this recipe with you by Waverly Fitzgerald, author of Slow Time: Recovering the Natural Rhythm of Life and creator of the semi-monthly e-newsletter Living in Season, which shows how to bring the beauty of the current season into our lives with ideas for simple actions, seasonal recipes and easy projects, plus recommendations for books and other resources.

We love Waverly's resources and inspirations, and we love this recipe too.

Creamy, Roasted Butternut Squash

I invented this recipe by accident whilst roasting a butternut squash for lunch a couple of weeks ago. I had half a tub of cream left in the fridge and wondered what would happen... The result is delicious. Great with any squash or pumpkin.

Hearty Butternut Squash and Red Onion Soup

This recipe for butternut squash and red onion soup was submitted to us by Kelly Stewart and is on test for you to try. Why not give it a go and let us know what you think!

Honest to Goodness' Cinnamon Roasted Seasonal Vegetables

This recipe was donated to us by Paul at our 'Scouse Veg' friends, "Honest To Goodness" who contacted us to be added to our free directory of vegbox providers.

We love how simple this is, and we love the cinnamon variation on roasting whatever's in season.

Hot Patty Pan Salsa

This is a deliciously simple recipe for patty pan squashes (also called custard squash or scallop squash).
The secret ingredient turns it into a tasty, hot salsa, with lots of potential variations. Great with rice, quinoa or as a jacket potato filling.

Jo Pratt’s Thai Pumpkin and Tenderstem® Red Curry

This recipe has been generously provided for us by Jo Pratt, courtesy of Tenderstem Broccoli..

Although Jo uses pumpkin, you could easily substitute in any Winter or Summer squash that happens to be in season.

Katy's Squashy Supper

This recipe was shared with us by Katy W over on our Facebook page. We love how simple it is, and we love how enthusiastic Katy's description is... More please, Ms W!

Lentil & Butternut Squash Pate

An easy recipe for an impressive and delicious result! Ideal as a starter at a dinner party, or boxed up for lunch at work.

Patty Pan Squash & Red Onion Salsa

This quick and easy dish is a tasty summer treat.
The mixture of flavours and textures is a really colourful treat.

Patty Pan With Toasted Sesame

This is a really quick, simple dish for patty pan squashes, but it's seriously tasty!

And it'll get you from cupboard to table in just 10 minutes.

Pumpkin / Squash and Carrot Soup

This delicious squash soup is vibrant orange and warms up any autumn or winter's day. It works equally well with pumpkin or an orange-fleshed squash and is really easy to make - as well as tasty.

Pumpkin Or Butternut Squash Soup

This is a great autumn lunchtime soup. We end up making it on Saturday lunchtimes, usually when it's raining! It really is as simple as chop the veggies, cook them in the butter, add the stock and then leave it.

Pumpkin Pie

This classic North American dessert was sent in by Gramma Julie. Over the years, she's developed short cuts that make this pumpkin pie as easy as possible.

Pumpkin, Sage And Pine Nut Ravioli

This is a variation on a classic autumnal Italian dish. It takes a while to prepare, but it's so delicious, it's worth the effort. Pumpkin, sage and pine nuts are a combination destined to go together...

Roasted Vegetables with Herbs

This juicy and flavoursome recipe has been provided by Cirio.

Root Vegetable 'Crumble' with Cheesy Topping

This is a delicious recipe for baby or Chantenay carrots and other roots veggies. The secret ingredient gives it a warming kick. Make the most of your turnips, swedes, parsnips and sweet potatoes. You can also use celeriac or kohlrabi.

Simple, Steamed Squash Or Pumpkin

This is quick and simple way of using butternut squash or pumpkin as a side dish.

Spicy Beanburgers with Courgette

This has turned out to be by far our favourite new recipe of the Summer season. It was so exciting to make our own burgers for the first time, and SO easy. These little fellas could be created with so many different ingredients added into the basic mix, depending on the season, although we’re struggling to think how they could get any tastier than in this version.

Thanks to our friend David_d from the Ooffoo community for suggesting we give them a go.

Spicy Beanburgers with Courgette

Spicy Butternut Squash Soup

DELICIOUSLY SPICY BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

Butternut squash has such a sweet taste and beautiful texture and this delightfully simple recipe will make a very special ingredient even more divine, with a touch of spice!

And why not give your squash soup a twist by adding a handful of nachos and a generous sprinkling of grated cheese as a topping.

Squash / Pumpkin, Shallot And Sage Roast

Quick and simple - a delicious way of cooking autumn shallots and squash or pumpkin.

Squash And Coconut Soup

Squashes keep well throughout the winter and, although the recipe suggests butternut, any orange-fleshed squash will do. The coconut is deliciously sweet with the squash.

Squash Puree

This squash recipe (also great with pumpkin) is incredibly simple and makes a great weaning food for little ones. Or you can serve it as a side vegetable for older eaters!

Stuffed Roasted Turban Squash

This is a delicious and simple recipe for Turban Squash (Turk's Squash). It's easy to prepare and does most of the cooking while you get on with something else!
And the fact you're serving dinner in an edible bowl makes an impressive centre piece!

Sweet Millet Surprise

This delicious recipe has been provided by Wholefood Harmony. As well as being delicious when made with parsnips, it also works very well with cauliflower and butternut squash.

Sweet-Baked Butternut Puds

If you're after something lighter than the traditional Christmas Pud, or like my family you're not a big fan of all the dried fruits, try out this utterly indulgent oven-baked pudding. And don't be shy - try adding your own favourite Christmassy spices, or mixing in some cocoa powder. Serve hot, with ice cream.

Thai Style Squash Curry

This curry is easy to make and pretty quick. Just make the paste, chop the veggies and cook it all in a wok (or large frying pan) with the coconut milk. Works well with pumpkin, too.

Warming Pumpkin Soup

This recipe was sent in to us by Shanny, who says "Delicious. I usually bake a loaf of bread in the breadmaker and have fresh warm bread with the soup. I put the bread on to cook in the morning as it takes 2.5 hrs and then make the soup for lunch as it only takes about 20 mins to cook. Great when you have friends over for lunch or a big family gathering."

Got one? Send us your recipe!

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