food comas

I had some leftover butternut squash from making Butternut Squash Soup, and so I decided it would be fun to make some butternut squash fries.  I have made Baked Eggplant and Zucchini Sticks before but I didn’t want to bread these.

I found a lot of recipes online that just suggested tossing the butternut squash with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg for a spicy but sweet combination.  However, it seems the biggest challenge when making oven-baked fries is to make sure they don’t turn out soggy.  So I compiled tons of tips to draw out the water from the squash so they can be baked to a perfect crispness.  It’s not perfect but I think it’s getting there… anyone have any other good tips?

Spicy Butternut Squash Fries

Ingredients:

• 4 C butternut squash
• kosher salt to taste
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425ºF.  Spray a baking sheet lightly with a cooking spray and place in the  oven to warm up (this will  help the fries get crispier quicker!).

Use a sharp knife to carefully cut away the peel from the squash.  Cut the squash into sticks like French fries.  Arrange squash pieces on some paper towels and season with salt.  Let it sit for 10 minutes or so to let the fries dry out (isn’t osmosis great?) and pat the excess moisture with paper towels.

In a large bowl, gently toss the fries with more salt, ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

Arrange squash pieces on the warmed baking sheets.  Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, turning the fries over halfway through baking.  Fries are done when they are starting to brown on the edges and become crispy.