Is butternut squash really hard before you cook it?

Yes. It takes some muscle. I love it, though, so it’s worth the effort.

My father used to be responsible for peeling it and cutting it up. I think he did it the hard way, peeling it section by one-inch section with a knife. That means cutting through the shell a lot of times. My family always had it at Thanksgiving, and at other times it was a special treat.

Now I scrape off a couple of layers of the shell with a vegetable peeler and then slice through sections of it with brute force. I also make them thicker, about 1½”, so there aren’t so many. Then I cut the slices into largeish chunks.

I’ve never made soup with it. I boil the chunks until tender, then mash them up like potatoes, adding some butter and a little salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. It’s a fine side dish with roast turkey and also goes with anything you’d serve with yams.

I do well skinning them using a sharp cleaver.

My second choice which also works ok is a potato peeler.

I use them in risotto.

Yep, they can be tough buggers.

I have a butternut squash soup recipe that is great, it involves simmering the peeled and medium diced squash chunks in chicken broth for about 45 minutes to soften it up.

@zenvelo It’s a simmering now. I added a few carrots and cumin and nutmeg – will add more if needed after it cooks.

Yes, it is very hard, but not quite as hard as those smaller acorn squashes. What I usually do is use a very large heavy sharp knife, not a cleaver, and cut the top end and the bottom end off. It’s easier to peel when it has a flat bottom, so you can stand it up. Then I use a regular vegetable peeler to remove the skin, then I go about cutting it in half, very carefully. It’s easier to cut when the skin is removed first. Then I scoop out the seeds (I prepare and roast these just like pumpkin seeds).

When I make soup with butternut squash, I cut the pieces into 2 or 3 inch cubes, coat them in a little bit of olive oil, and salt & pepper, then roast them in the oven for 15 or 20 minutes until they soften. Then I put them in the blender (a food processor would be better and I need to get one) along with some vegetable broth, and puree the mixture. Then I transfer it to a stock pot and heat it up. Depending upon what I have on hand, I might also add in some jarred roasted red bell peppers, or fresh corn, and then spice it up in all sorts of different ways. Sometimes I’ll add a pinch of sage, or maybe some smoked paprika, or maybe some curry powder.

Here’s a little video showing how to cut butternut squash (with some odd jazzy music): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyPC8U4v59c

And here is a recipe for Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Well, it’s all done now but the pureeing and tasting but I did want to make sure that the hardness was what was supposed to be.

(It is delicious!)

Absolutely love butternut squash, but yes, it’s a bit of a chore to peel.

I love to dice it in cubes, along with beets, and roast them in the oven, with shallots and garlic. And then I eat it with an arugula and an apple cider vinaigrette. Topped with roasted pumpkin seeds.

Frickin’ dangerous to try to cut in half, if you ask me. There is a large risk of the knife slipping and cutting your other hand because it’s so hard when uncooked.