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Tip: An easier way to peel butternut squash

March 2nd, 2008 · 3 Comments · Cooking tips

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.

Partially peeled butternut squash

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.

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3 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Katie // Mar 5, 2008 at 1:54 pm

    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.

  • 2 Janet Majure // Mar 5, 2008 at 6:57 pm

    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!

  • 3 Katie // Mar 7, 2008 at 6:07 pm

    You’re welcome. :-)

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