What's The Best Way To Cook Honeynut Squash For Maximum Flavor?

Squash is all the rage nowadays, and it makes perfect sense. These gourds (which are technically fruits) are not only tasty but are also full of nutrients and antioxidants. While you may already know how to cook many winter squashes, such as butternut, acorn, and spaghetti squash, there's a new variety on the shelves that you may not have seen before: honeynut squash. Honeynut squash was made by crossing buttercup and butternut squash; it's a smaller and sweeter version of its parent gourds. So, how do you cook it?

Honeynut squash can be cooked similarly to butternut squash, meaning that it can be used in many of the same creative butternut squash recipes. However, the best way to cook honeynut squash to bring out the most flavor is by roasting it in the oven. This is because the heat from the oven softens the flesh of the gourd and caramelizes the natural sugars inside, which brings out that characteristic sweet and nutty flavor. Thirty to 40 minutes in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit should do the trick. 

But before you pop the squash in the oven, the first thing you should decide is what flavors you want to season it with.

Because honeynut squash has a sweet and nutty flavor, you can choose to either amplify the gourd's natural sweetness with warm spices and sugar or complement it with more savory flavors. If you want to go for a sweet flavor profile, take a page from Ina Garten's book and coat the squash with brown sugar, butter, and a drizzle of maple syrup. You can also coat it with sugar, cinnamon, and butter for a dessert-like treat.

If you want to go the more savory route, a great combination is thyme, rosemary, and garlic salt along with butter or olive oil. You can also top the squash with a nutty cheese to enhance the natural buttery flavor of the gourd. (Freshly grated parmesan or pecorino are both good choices.) 

Like acorn squashes, honeynut squashes are great stuffed because their size is perfect for individual portions. Using a similar stuffing to that typically used in a quinoa stuffed acorn squash recipe is a great place to start.

Once you've roasted the honeynut squash, you can use the soft and sweet flesh of the gourd to make many interesting dishes. Just like butternut squash, the honeynut variety makes for an excellent soup. You can use any butternut squash soup recipe you enjoy and adapt it to work with roasted honeynut squash. Just note that the end product will be slightly sweeter, so you may have to adjust the ingredients accordingly.

While many people choose to roast honeynut whole, this variety of squash has a soft, edible skin, meaning that it can also be diced raw and then roasted in pieces with other vegetables. You can also cut honeynut squash into rounds and then toss them on the grill for a perfectly charred side dish, or a vegetarian burger patty. While there are many recipes for veggie burgers, squash can add a level of sweetness that works especially well when mixed with other ingredients, such as beans, to form a patty.