Thursday, November 3, 2011

How to hack a hubbard squash

We grew many different varieties of winter squash at Marra Farm this year: divine delicatas, charismatic kabochas, and absolutely-scrumptious acorns. Throughout the autumn, we harvested up these squashes and sent them to clients at the Providence Regina House and Beacon Ave food banks. One squash that we seemed to have in particular abundance was the tremendously hefty Hubbard. These were a challenge to distribute; they frequently weigh more than 20 pounds, and food safety rules at prevented us from cutting them into smaller pieces for food bank clients. So the hubbards went out to many partners: the South Park Community Kitchen, meals programs, classrooms at Concord International Elementary, and the Food Justice delegation at Occupy Seattle. Below is an illustrated journey into the seedy heart of this great fruit. This particular squash went out to clients of our inaugural Community Supported Agriculture program.


Step one: find yourself a very sharp knife.

Caaarefully open the hubbard; the skin is tough (but edible & full of fiber!)

Squish around the seeds, scoop em out, and set aside for roasting. Now your squash is ready to bake.


















Bake your squash at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes, or chunk it into cubes for soup. Many people will put the squash face down in a pan with water, so that the squash cooking via steaming and does not burn. Did you know that most canned "pumpkin" is really hubbard squash? That's because hubbards tend to be sweeter & more flavorful than most pumpkins. Feel free to leave a comment with your favorite winter squash recipe!

1 comment:

Mike said...

I nearly lost a finger when the knife slipped while I was cutting the skin off of mine to get cubes for a casserole. But it was yummy! and worth the reminder about proper knife technique!