Roasted Cushaw Squash and Puree

Oven-roasting is a foundation for many winter squash recipes. The roasting process is the same for winter squash cushaws as other species of squash.

Because the rind of a hardshell squash fruit does not soften as much with roasting, be careful to avoid getting pieces of shell into the puree if yours has a hard shell.

Freezing

Raw squash pieces and puree can both be frozen. For a large winter squash fruit, a cook might store the fruit for a few months whole at room temperature. Then when the squash is first needed, the cook might prepare half of it, and freeze the other half either raw or as puree.

Ingredients

  • 1 or more squash fruit
  • Cooking lard or oil
  • Salt

Equipment and supplies

  • Oven
  • One or more baking trays or casseroles
  • Parchment paper or aluminum foil
  • Chef’s knife
  • Scoop or large spoon
  • Bowls
  • Potato masher or something similar
  • Colander

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

  2. Cut the squash fruit into pieces that are relatively flat. The flesh in the neck is often thicker than the flesh around the seed cavity. Suggestion: You may consider splitting the neck in half, and roasting those two pieces in a separate tray so that they can be roasted longer than the other parts.

  3. Line your baking trays, pans, casseroles, etc with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

  4. Mix oil and salt into a bowl. Using a brush, piece of parchment paper, or other method, lightly coat the flesh with the mixture.

  5. Place a single layer on the baking tray with the inside downward. For neck pieces, this means placing the cut side downward.

  6. If all the are approximately the same thickness, then you only need to set one timer. Fruit at room temperature with flesh up to 1.5 inches thick can be roasted in about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Thicker flesh should be roasted for a longer period of time.

  7. The the edges of a squash piece will brown when the piece is fully roasted. One it cools, use a scoop to separate the flesh from the rind. Then use a potato masher, food processor, or other approach to mix the flesh until it reaches puree consistency.

Saved seeds in a colander.
Saving the seeds from fruits with good qualities.
The cut neck of a large cushaw squash fruit
The dense flesh of the neck is processed separately from the flesh around the seed cavity.
The cut neck of a large cushaw squash fruit.
The dense flesh of the neck is processed separately from the flesh around the seed cavity.
Squash with hard shells are difficult to cut.
Cutting the flesh of a hardshell fruit starting from the inside allows the cook to use their hands to split the pieces if the knife doesn't completely separate the rind.
Pieces of cut squash, coated in oil and salt, laid with the inside down on aluminum foil or parchment paper.
Place the fruit pieces with the inside down on paper or aluminum foil plus a light coating of oil and salt.
Roasted cushaw pieces after approximately an hour roasting in the oven.
These cushaw pieces are finished roasting.
Scooping roasted cushaw into bowl.
A large spoon, or in this case an ice cream scoop, can be used to separate the cooked flesh.
Finished cushaw puree in a labelled freezer bag.
Surplus puree can be frozen for later use.