Busy Butternut

I was so amped about this week's Meatless Monday because I had already decided what I wanted! It took me way longer than I thought to find my main ingredient though.

The world as I know it is in full Halloween mode. Everywhere I turn there are miles of pumpkins to be had. It seems though, that in all the flurry over having enough pumpkins, the produce managers of all the grocery stores in the land have neglected their supply of all other squash and gourd like vegetables.

My locally owned small guy grocery had two very pitiful looking butternut squash for a ridiculous price. I laughed, and I went to a slightly larger, but still locally owned (however farther away from my home) store. Here there were also only two butternut squash. The price was right though and they were monstrous, healthy looking specimens that I grabbed in a hurry before someone else did. (Because we all know that there's a rush on butternut these days...)

I got those butternuts back to my house as quickly as I could. It takes forever to prepare a butternut, just because they're so hard. Now, I have heard of a method involving microwaving the squash for a few minutes that is supposed to make the squash easier to peel. Maybe I'll actually think to try this with the other big guy that's stashed in my fridge right now. As for this one, I just dove right in and started cutting and peeling the squash. Now, I know that you can buy already prepared, frozen butternut squash. I am not a fan of doing so because I'm a nerd and like my ingredients to be as fresh as possible. Of course, even before I was stricken with this nerdiness I was never able to find frozen butternut squash where I live.

So after I got my squash peeled and diced and ready to go I steamed it until it was very tender, then added rice milk, cornstarch, sautéed onions and garlic, rosemary and basil to it. I pureed it with a blender and what resulted was a creamy, delicious butternut squash sauce perfect for pouring over pasta.

The verdict? Don't decide to do this on a busy day like I did. Running around like a chicken with my head cut off then starting late and barely getting it to the table on time! It took me about an hour and a half from start to finish, but this sauce is always worth my time! One squash yielded me more than my recipe made. I had to double it so I'll freeze the leftovers to pull out on days when I want something fast and healthy.

Of course, when I have those frozen leftovers I'll have to count on fixing the kids a PB&J. Neither one of them liked this recipe although Dad and I think it's yummy! It's also great with some spicy grilled shrimp on not meatless Tuesday!

Be on the lookout for me to post this recipe and others soon on my new recipes page!