I made soup again the other night. I know I said I was sick of soup, but it sounded better than anything else I could think of. Anyway, the good news is it’s delicious and it gave me an excuse to try a new squash-peeling method.
On to the tip: Butternut squash is great to eat, but it’s a pain to prepare because it’s so hard to cut. Diane had had a hard time halving the things and told me about microwaving them first to soften the shell. I figured it might work for peeling, too.
Hence, I washed a 2-pound butternut, pierced the skin in a few places, and put it in the microwave for three minutes. When I took it out, liquid was oozing a bit from the holes I poked, and the squash was a little warm, but I could pick it up bare-handed.
Next, I lopped off the top and bottom, set it upright on a cutting board and peeled it with a chef’s knife, paring from top to bottom.
It was remarkably easy. Maybe not quite in the peel-a-carrot category, but much easier than previous attempts. You can see in the photo that moisture beaded up on the flesh where I peeled it, but that didn’t seem to harm the texture.
Only after I peeled the butternut did I halve it, seed it and cut it into 1-inch dice for the soup. Net result: soup prep time also halved.
I can help you one more:
Here!
The trick seems to be in having a flexible peeler with a comfortable enough handle that you can easily put some pressure on it.
Wow. I must not have the right peeler, or the woman in the video has some kind of softer-skinned butternut than I have had. I’ve never had the peel come off like that with a peeler, or even a very sharp knife. It does make me think I’ll try again sometime with a different peeler, though. Thanks, Katie!
You’re welcome. :-)
Curried Butternut Squash Soup fits with season | foodperson.com // Dec 4, 2008 at 2:30 pm
[...] oven. Cook on high 3 minutes. Remove and peel. (Microwave step is optional, but it makes for easier peeling.) Cut open, remove seeds and cut squash in [...]
You saved the day! I wanted to try butternut squash (after tasting it at a friend’s house), but I had no idea how to peel it. My wife and I are in our 70′s but I do all the cooking because she works part time and also operates a painting studio. Thanks!
Good news, Don! Thanks for letting me know. :)