Making Squash into Something Beautiful and New

Baked Eggs in Roasted Honey Nut Squash

Sometimes I let my squashes sit. That’s right, I buy a lot of squashes and roots because they hold up for a long time without rotting so long as they’re stored correctly in a cool, dry place. They start off on my window sill and then usually migrate to a large stainless steel bowl, where they are gently laid to rest with a cozy towel on top. From here they are placed in a cabinet and they wait. They patiently wait to be discovered and turned into something magical. My love affair with the squash runs deep. There are so many varieties outside of the green and yellow tender zucchini and summer cucuzza of my childhood, long, lean and often bathed in sauce, onions and cheese.

Hearty fall and winter squashes have been filling my tummy and my plate for years, making their way into soups, pasta dishes, combined with beans and made into bakes. We don’t give vegetables (or beans) nearly all of the credit and adoration they deserve for being satiating, sumptuous, stunningly shaped and simple to eat. I love alliteration. When I open my cabinet door and unveil a squash, I often sigh when I imagine how I will turn it’s humble life into something magical simply by loving it.

I laid my honey nut squash (you can use butternut or delicata squash depending on the season or availability in your local market) on the top of my butcher block, carefully slicing it’s skin off and then cutting it in half. I used the bulbous part for baking eggs (the cavity of any vegetable or squash is natures ramekin, now do you see?) - while the slightly longer part was cubed and roasted for later use in various recipes throughout the remainder of the week. Essentially, a honey nut squash is a baby butternut squash with an outer skin that is a bit deeper in color as well as the flesh - deeper and ever so slightly sweeter when cooked. As the have in the word honey in the name implies.  I added extra virgin olive oil, a pat of butter, leftover shiitakes and spinach in the skillet to give this breakfast squash dish even more substance, sex appeal and flavor.

Looking at vegetables with love may help how you decide to prepare them. Relegating all greens to a salad or all squashes to a side is a sin. Dare to create and imagine a whole new world for yourself and vegetables. It can be fun to eat more plants. And you’ll feel better too.

Ingredients
1 small honey nut squash, bulb cut off, skin removed, de-seeded and sliced in half
2 eggs 1 T extra virgin olive oil
Hand full of spinach
5-6 mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
Salt + freshly ground black pepper  

Method
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Place squash on a roasting tray and use 1 tsp of oil per half of honey nut squash to coat, sprinkle with salt and a grind of black pepper
Place in the oven for 7 minutes to pre-cook the squash
While the squash is in the oven, put remaining teaspoon of oil in a cast iron pan with mushrooms and spinach Remove squash from the oven and place in cast iron pan with spinach and mushrooms
Crack eggs into a small cup (I use an espresso cup per egg) and GENTLY slide each egg into their respective squash cavity
Place back in the oven and cook until egg is just set, about 15-20 minutes 
Eat right out of the cast iron pan or plate, either is civilized  
*I chose to grate a tiny bit of provolone on top and ate one piece, right out of the pan, while the other will make a lovely lunch or dinner over salad or a breakfast encore tomorrow