What to do with butternut squash, first installment

I am not a huge fan of butternut squash, but it's easy to grow and my husband likes it.  I think it's too sweet most of the time, and I don't like its overly mushy texture.  It's like baby food. So, here I am with a glut of the suckers and no clue what to do.  I have been experimenting with ways to sneak it into flavorful dishes to cut the sweetness, and my first success was this soup.  You can make all kinds of substitutions here--use sweet potato or any other squash in place of the butternut, trade out the greens for whatever you prefer, and even the barley can become brown rice, a small pasta shape, or Bulgar wheat easily enough.  If you make any substitutions to this recipe, I'd love to hear about them--comment below!

Butternut Squash Soup with Barley and Kale

Serves 6

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons ground cumin, divided
2 teaspoons salt, divided
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon butter
1 cup pearled barley
4 cups water or vegetable stock
½ cup dried shitake mushrooms, broken into bite-sized pieces
1 cup chopped fresh or frozen kale
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Dash Tabasco
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Toss the butternut squash and onion with the olive oil, 1 teaspoon of the cumin, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and the smoked paprika.  Spread onto a baking sheet and roast in the oven at 425°F for 25 minutes or until vegetables are tender and starting to turn brown.

Meanwhile, heat the butter over medium heat in a Dutch oven or large stock pot.  When it melts, add the barley, the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt, and the remaining teaspoon of the cumin.  Saute until the barley starts to toast and become fragrant.  Add the water or stock and the dried mushrooms, cover, and increase to medium high heat.  When the soup begins to boil, lower to a simmer and cook until barley is tender, about 30 minutes.  Stir in the kale, lemon juice, and Tabasco and continue to cook until kale wilts, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat, stir in the roasted vegetables, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Toasted Pasta and Roasted Tomato Sauce

Toasted Spaghetti with Roasted Puttanesca

The name says it all…

Serves 4

1 lb. of your favorite sick pasta (spaghetti, buccatini, linguine…)
4 cups homemade uncooked puttanesca
1 cup cooked chick peas
Water
Salt

Break stick pasta in half and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Bake in the oven at 350°F for about 10 minutes, stirring once so that it browns evenly.  Pasta should be golden and starting to blister on the surface slightly. It should look like this:

Bring a pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta according to package directions.  Meanwhile, spread the puttanesca and chick peas out onto a baking sheet.  Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil and roast in the oven at 375°F for about 20 minutes, or until some of the liquid has evaporated.

Toss together and enjoy!

Raw Puttanesca Sauce

My favorite puttanesca is garlicky, spicy, and barely cooked.  I prefer to treat it like a pico de gallo on top of pasta, just tossing it enough with the hot pasta to warm it up.  Cooking it for a long time like you do other sauces makes it lose that special fresh quality (and really flattens out the garlic).

When you have a glut of fresh tomatoes, this is a great plan; if the tomatoes are not in perfect condition (usually when texture is grainy inside), you can also simmer it on the stove to disguise their flaws.  Making the raw sauce and then canning it also works really well.

2 lbs. fresh tomatoes, cored and roughly diced
4-6 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
1/2 cup green olives, chopped
2 tablespoons capers
1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves, chopped
olive oil, salt, and balsamic vinegar to taste

Combine all ingredients and  refrigerate.  Will keep up to one week; otherwise, can it or cook it and then it can be frozen.

Hummus Pizza

This recipe combines some of my favorite things: pizza, cheese, hummus, and a short ingredient list.  And surely this is healthier for you than a big pile of oil poured underneath the tomatoes, right?...



Hummus Pizza

Makes 8 large slices

1 pizza crust (here's my recipe)
1 cup hummus (here's my recipe)
½ red onion, thinly sliced
1 tomato, cored and thinly sliced
1 ball smoked buffalo mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced



Roll out the pizza crust as thin as possible and prebake in the oven at 425°F for 8 minutes or until it starts to get slightly crisp on top.  Remove from oven.  Spread the hummus in an even layer on the crust, then scatter the red onion and lay down the tomato slices.  Lay mozzarella slices evenly across the top and bake in the oven 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and starting to brown.