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We grow many types of Squash and have created this Squash page to help our customers know how best to use the winter squash and pumpkin found in their baskets. These descriptions and tips are not exhaustive, but are only meant as a guide for identifying and the various types of squash we grow as well as basic cooking techniques. If you discover any other great uses or recipes, please e-mail them to us!

Helpful Squash tips from Chef Bruce Wood

Squash is an old & revered vegetable in North America. It is part of the three sisters vegetable trio from aboriginal mythology. Native cultures believed that when corn, beans and squash were planted together they grew in symbiosis with each plant helping the other and nutritionally are nearly perfect when eaten together. The simplest preparation of squash is to cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds and baste with maple syrup and butter, a little fresh thyme would not go amiss and if you like heat I like to mix the maple syrup with some dried chili flakes. Roast the squash in the oven at 350 degrees until soft, approx. 45 minutes. A very quick & easy soup is to just take the cooked squash and remove it from the skin and place it in a pot in which you have lightly cooked one onion and several cloves of garlic. Add just enough water to cover and cook for 25 minutes, blend using a hand blender and season to taste. Squash has a natural affinity for strong flavours and if you take the cooked squash and toss it with cooked pasta, bleu cheese and crumbled cooked bacon (optional) you have a fantastic quick and easy pasta. Squash is lovely and should be kept in mind as a fantastic local, seasonal vegetable, that can be enjoyed all winter.

  Delicata/Sweet Dumpling
This is one of our favourites because it is great early in the season and very sweet. It can be eaten skin and all! Some are round - other oblong. They come in various shapes and sizes - some are almost miniature. Other, like “Sweet Dumpling” can weight five pounds! We find them easy to bake and serve - delicious.
  Acorn
These are small ribbed squash intended for baking. They can be black, dark green, or pale yellow/white. The flesh is yellow. They are nice simply halved and baked with a spot of butter or honey. We find they need a little more spice (nutmeg, cinnamon, maple syrup, honey) than the Delicata type squash.
  Spaghetti
Oblong or round, orange, yellow, white, or green and yellow, smooth, medium sized with mildly sweet “pasta” or “spaghetti” flesh. Best halved and baked until tender and then pull the pasta-like squash out with a fork. Great to use instead of your favourite pasta - with a dash of pesto!
 

Gem:
In a class of their own, this hard-shelled (almost black) squash (orange centre) from South Africa is best (halved and baked) with a dash of butter. Some folks from South African have told us that they eat the shell - but we found it a bit tough.
  Japanese Pumpkin:
These black skinned/orange flesh pumpkins are another great roasting pumpkin. They hold together very well in the oven and are often described as almost a “custard.”
  Hubbard
Medium to large, round to oval, with a “neck” at the stem. They are variably ribbed with dry orange flesh.
  Butternut:
Can be cylindrical with a bulbed end. Bright moist flesh.
 

Queensland Blue Pumpkin:
Sometimes called the Australian Blue Pumpkin, it is very popular down under. It is a great tasting roasting pumpkin or can be used in soups. We like it best roasted on its own!
  Buttercup/Kabocha
Small to medium-large squash with thick, dry, orange flesh. They skins can be black, blue, orange, white, or dark green. Included in the category are the Queensland Blue Pumpkin, Japanese Pumpkin, as well as the Buttercup, Black Forest, and Sunshine squash.