Creamy Spinach & Cheese Roasted Butternut Squash

I love to garden!  This year I have more veggies growing in my yard than I’ve ever had in the past.  I experimented with so many new things, a few of which are squash.  I have three types of zucchini, spaghetti, acorn and butternut squash all growing outside in my yard as we speak. The only thing that is more satisfying to me than growing my own food is learning to cook with it.  I didn’t have much experience with butternut squash when I started to grow it this year, so I had to do some research to figure out what to do with it.  This recipe right here turned out exceptionally well and was incredibly easy to prepare. It also only requires a few ingredients and very minimal clean-up! It’s a modification of a few separate recipes I found, so I figured I would take a few minutes to share it in case any of my gardening friends out there were unsure what to do with their butternuts like I was.

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 1 butternut squash
  • ½ cup vegetable or chicken broth
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 5 cloves of garlic
  • 1 cup mozzarella cheese
  • 1 cup freshly chopped spinach
  • Red pepper flakes
  • Salt and pepper

 

Directions

cut squashSeason squash

  1. Preheat the oven to 400F.  Wash the outside of your squash clean then cut into half down the middle from stem to root. Scoop out the seeds and scrape a bit of the flesh out with a spoon to make room for your mixture.  Sprinkle each half with salt and pepper.
  2. In a large bowl combine minced garlic, heavy cream, broth, cheese and spinach.  Mix well. Divide the mixture into each half, then top with red pepper flakes. I had to build some small holders out of tin foil to make the squash level.  You may have to do the same in order to avoid the mixture spilling out.
  3. Roast on a baking sheet in the oven for 40-50 minutes, depending on the size/thickness of your squash. You’ll know it’s ready when the flesh of the squash is very tender when poked with a fork. Remove from oven and let cool a few minutes before serving.

Roast in oven

Let squash cool

See how easy that is! ENJOY!

Cheesy butternut squash