7 Creative Butternut Squash Recipes

Each fall, a butternut squash craze sweeps the nation. People can't seem to get enough butternut squash soup, ravioli, and pizza, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Butternut squash is loaded with vitamin A — just one cup cubed contains 298 percent of the recommended daily value. And it's also a good source of vitamin C and dietary fiber.

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Its beige skin is easily removed using a vegetable peeler, and for the ultimate convenience, it's also available precut into cubes. But if you're looking at a fresh, whole butternut squash, make sure it's free from blemishes and has at least one inch of stalk left at the top. It is best stored in a cool area away from moisture and light, but there is no need to refrigerate it since it will keep for several months. 

Roasted in the oven, the yellow-orange flesh of butternut squash takes on a mellow sweet flavor that intensifies if you let it caramelize in the pan, and a range of preparations, from soup to salad to stew, mean that no part of that squash goes to waste.

This week, The Daily Meal is pleased to have members of the Culinary Content Network join in on Recipe SWAT Team once again. Heather Cheney, author of the blog Heather Likes Food, joins us for the first time with a recipe for Harvest Tortellini Soup; Rachel Rappaport, one-time Recipe SWAT Team winner, returns once again with a Butternut Squash and Swiss Chard White Lasagna; and Heather Blackmon cooks up a Butternut Squash Ravioli in Roasted Garlic Beurre Blanc.

Top honors, though, go to Anne Dolce for her winning Butternut Squash Risotto Recipe. Congratulations!

Click here to see Recipe SWAT Teams From the Past

Will Budiaman is the Recipe Editor at The Daily Meal. Follow him on Twitter @WillBudiaman.