Pumpkin And Squash Recipes For Thanksgiving

Here are a few pumpkin and squash recipe suggestions for Turkey Day, 3 recipes can be prepared a day ahead and the soufflé an hour before dinner starts.

I have been cooking several kinds of squash these past 3 weeks and whenever I see unfamiliar ones at the farmer's market I couldn't resist buying them. The Hubbard squash which looks like a very large (about 5 pounds) pregnant and pockmarked zucchini has a very mild sweetish flavor and light yellow color. I like that its skin is soft and edible just like zucchini and kabocha. And when I saw the teeny tiny less than half a pound Sweet Dumpling squash I knew I wanted to make it into, what else, dumplings! It is also very mild in taste and color and the recipe I found online is just perfect in its simplicity.

tiny Sweet Dumpling squash and Sugar pumpkin

the quite large Hubbard squash

Sugar Pumpkin Soufflé recipe adapted from here
Kabocha Cupcakes recipe adapted from here
Sweet Dumpling Dumplings recipe adapted from here
Baked Hubbard Squash
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
20 ounces peeled and thinly sliced Hubbard squash
salt and pepper to taste
grated nutmeg
1½ cups heavy cream
2 medium tart apples, cored, peeled and thinly sliced
3 ounces goat cheese, diced

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Rub casserole dish with 1 T butter. Place dish on a baking sheet. Cover bottom of dish with a layer of squash, season with salt and pepper and a dash of nutmeg. Repeat with remaining squash and seasoning. Pour heavy cream over all.
• Bake 30 minutes, remove from oven. Press squash/cream mixture down using heat proof spatula, return to the oven and bake another 10 minutes. Remove from oven.
• Toss apples with the oil. Cover top of squash with a single layer of apple slices, overlapping slightly, pressing apples gently into cream mixture with a spatula.
• Return to oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Top with cheese. Return to oven and bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is slightly browned.

Take your pick, they're all delicious, I promise you!:-)