Curried Butternut Squash Cream Sauce…A Velvety Treat!

Curried Butternut Squash Cream Sauce is well worth adding to your repertoire ~ totally delicious over sautéed vegetable medleys, steamed grains, rice, ravioli, pasta, polenta, omelettes….just about anything savory you can think of!!

Begin with baking the butternut squash or a flavorful, smooth textured, winter squash of your choice. This may be done ahead of time, reserving 2 cups (500mL) of squash puree to use in this elegant sauce.

Winter Squash Baking Instructions:

1. WASH the butternut squash.
2. CUT off stem & ends before slicing down the center of the squash with a very sharp chef’s knife.
Cynthe’s TIP: Use care as the squash is very hard and the skin slippery. Don’t risk cutting your fingers!

3. SCOOP out the seeds and any fibers. Discard them.
4. PLACE cut side down on a non-stick cookie sheet.
5. BAKE 25 minutes at 400F (205C) until squash is tender with the edges slightly caramelized.
6. REMOVE from oven, let cool slightly until you can handle the squash or use protective baking mitts.

Then prepare the squash for use in the cream sauce:
7. CUT off the cavities ends of the squash halves about an inch or two into the neck of the squash. (Save those thick necks for another meal like our Colorful Winter Confetti Bake.)
8. SCOOP the tender pulp off the skin, which will be discarded, into a large mixing bowl.
9. PUREE the roasted squash pulp with an immersion blender or in a conventional blender.

Classic ‘White’ Cream Sauce Recipe

Use the following recipe or your favorite cream sauce as the basis for this velvety, butternut squash sauce.

INGREDIENTS:
6 Tablespoons organic, salted Butter
*2 Tablespoons of your favorite Hot Curry Powder (I used Rajah brand)
6 Tablespoons organic, Unbleached Wheat Flour
1 cup (250mL) organic heavy cream
1 cup (250mL) organic whole fat milk
Sea Salt to taste
*2 cups (500mL) roasted Butternut Squash puree
*Omit for ‘Classic Cream Sauce’

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. MELT butter over low heat in a small sauce pan.
Cynthe’s TIP: Take care not to burn the butter, spices, or flour in the first three steps.
2. ADD curry powder to melted butter and cook for 30 seconds to a minute or so, to toast the spices & bring out the aromatic bouquet.

3. STIR in the flour until the butter binds it into a grainy textured mass. In classic French Cuisine, this is referred to as a “roux.”
4. POUR the heavy cream and whole milk in slowly, stirring all the while to avoid any lumps of uncooked flour.

5. Continue to COOK over medium-low heat bringing it to a gentle simmer until the sauce thickens. Do not boil over high heat! The finished sauce will be perfectly smooth with a velvety texture (a culinary triumph).
6. ADD sea salt to taste.

7. ADD the butternut squash puree.
8. STIR by hand until smooth and well blended.

9. SERVE as an elegant sauce over vegetables, grains, egg dishes, or use as the base of wonderful soups. (Check out our Vegetable Medley Soup recipe.) This versatile sauce recipe makes generous portions, so you can feed a crowd or freeze the finished sauce for other meals.

We assembled a colorful vegetable medley sauté using that week’s CSA box from Valley End Farm.  Chopped the veggies into bite-size pieces and the cabbage into fat strips, since it cooks down considerably. Then we sautéed them in fresh virgin olive oil adding just a touch of sea salt.

A pot of basmati rice was steamed alongside the sauté. We enjoyed a delicious simple meal that evening.