Butternut Squash Roasted Whole: The best one-ingredient dish ever

This is more than a recipephany; it’s a revelation.

It comes from Raegan Sales, the Veggie Whisperer. To capture the deep flavor of butternut squash, roast it whole at 400 degrees for about an hour until it yields when you stab it with a fork. Cool a little, then cut it in half, remove the seeds and peel off the paper-thin skin (unless you are like me and consume that, too). The juice is like maple syrup, so save it to spoon over or mash into the squash. Eat as is or use in other dishes.

The squash is so sweet and velvety it tastes like it has been injected with butter and caramelized in its own skin. It comes out of the oven glowing with a rainbow of flavors that need nothing else, not even salt. This is the best one-ingredient recipe ever.

I’ve peeled, hacked, boiled, nuked, drenched in oil, and otherwise abused squash in the past. Who would have thought that the easiest cooking method would be the best?

This lovely butternut squash, with the cute little curlicue vine, is the last from our garden this season. Next year I’ll cook all this way.