Butternut Squash - How To Peel, Cut, and Store

Autumn is the time of squash and when there is a lot in the garden it must be stored in the best way. It is a super versatile vegetable in the kitchen. It can be used to make soups, juices, sweets, and much more. Even its seeds are full of health benefits! For all this, today we will show you how we conserve the Butternut squash of our garden. Watch our educational video at the end of the post.

Required Materials

• 1 Kitchen board
• 1 Sharp knife
• 1 Potato peeler
• Freezing bags or silicon molds (for freezing in individual doses)
• Cling film
• 1 Strainer
• 1 Cloth or kitchen towels

Peeling and Cutting

1. Start by cutting the ends.
2. Remove the peel with a potato peeler.
3. Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds with a table spoon.
4. Cut the pumpkin into small cubes.

Storage

Here at home we store the pumpkin by freezing. It can be frozen raw or cooked. 

Raw

1. To store raw pumpkin, simply put the cubes in freezer bags. We use these which are reusable and have a hand pump to remove the air from the bag, which allows to gain more space in the freezer.

Cooked

1. To store cooked pumpkin, steam the cubes until they are very tender.
2. Place the cubes in the food processor until they become puree.
3. Place the puree in silicon molds so that it is frozen in individual doses.
4. Cover the molds with cling film and place in the freezer. 
5. Then just defrost each individual dose as needed and it is ready to use in soups, jams, and other cooked dishes.

Freezing is recommended between 6 months and 1 year, however we have had it frozen for longer without any problems.

Seeds

To preserve the seeds:

1. Remove the threads of pumpkin filling that are attached to the seeds.
2. With the help of a strainer, wash the seeds to remove residues.
3. Remove excess water with a cloth or kitchen towels.
4. Separate the seeds well and let them dry. They can dry on a cloth, kitchen towel, foil or other clean surface.

The seeds can be roasted in the oven for later use in cooking or they can be stored for cultivation in the garden the following year.

There are several species of pumpkin and we usually grow Butternut and Muscat. If you want to see how to peel this kind of pumpkin, check also the post and video: Pumpkin - How to Peel, Cut, and Store.

Make sure to watch the video about Butternut pumpkin.

Video: Butternut Squash - How to Peel, Cut and Store