Description
If you like pumpkin, you’ll love Buttercup Winter Squash. It’s one of the sweetest varieties of winter squash, and its seeds are a great snack food, just like pumpkin seeds.
Norm Lehne Garden & Orchards (Roseburg) grows these, which should not be confused with “Butternut” squash. Buttercup is a medium-sized variety of squash, weighing on average between 2-4 pounds. Buttercup squash meat is smooth, with a deep orange color. It can lean towards being a bit dry, so try steaming, simmering, stewing, and baking to bring out its natural sweetness while adding moisture. Its mild flavor makes it pair exceptionally well with hard cheeses, nuts, beef, lentils, and pumpkin pie spice.
Buttercup is another of the “turban squash” family (but with a much smaller cap than “Turk’s Turban”), and stores in similar fashion. Uncooked and whole, turban squash will keep at room temperature for about a month. The cap of the squash is the most likely place to show rot first, so watch it carefully. Once cut, raw turban squash may be kept in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week. Once cooked, it may be kept in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to six months.
Try one of these two recipes for making the most of your Buttercup squash: Maple-Roasted Buttercup Squash; Vegetarian Stuffed Buttercup Squash.
