Twice Baked Butternut Squash Recipe

This butternut squash recipe is very similar to the spaghetti squash gratin, and in fact if you wanted, you could scoop out all the flesh and bake the mixture in a casserole instead. Of course, the presentation of serving the squash whole is quite attractive, and next time I will get smaller squashes which I think would be adorable.

Twice-baked butternut squash is inspired by twice baked potatoes but is significantly healthier because of all the wonderful fiber and nutrients provided by the squash. Because of that I stuck with potato-style mix-ins like sour cream and green onion.

One half of the squash I kept quite simple, and to the other half I added a pinch of spicy garam masala, but both were delicious. The squash is quite sweet, but is cut with the tanginess of the sour cream and the sharpness of the scallions which also help give the dish a green speckle. You can make this dish several hours ahead and just bake it at the last minute.

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Twice Baked Butternut Squash

(serves 2)

1 medium squash

3 heaping tablespoons sour cream

salt and pepper

two scallions, minced

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

a pinch garam masala (optional)

1/2 lemon juiced

Preheat oven to 425F. Cut squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and discard. Put squash, cut side up in a baking dish and add water to come up 1/4″ on the squash. Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake for ~40 minutes or until the squash is nice and tender when pierced by a fork.

Remove the pan from the oven, uncover and remove squash from water, let cool. Scoop flesh out of squash into a mixing bowl leaving 1/4″ in the bottom of each squash half. Add sour cream, scallions, parsley, lemon juice and curry if you are using it. Taste and season as necessary, you will want lots of pepper and a healthy dash of salt. Scoop evenly into squash halves and bake for 30 more minutes at 425F. (If you find you don’t have enough filling to fill both squashes you can bake the remainder in a ramekin.)

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 70 minutes | Total Time:80 minutes