Delicata Squash

Know this

Every other winter squash makes you fight it. Delicata has skin thin enough to eat, so the knife work is a cut, a scoop, and done. That thin skin is also why it does not keep: a butternut will sit in your pantry until spring, a delicata gives you about a month. It is sweeter than most of them too, closer to a sweet potato than a pumpkin, which is where the old name sweet potato squash came from. Buy them heavy for their size with deep green stripes and a hard, dull skin. A shiny one was picked early and will taste like nothing. Chef secret: skip the halving and cut it crosswise into rings, then push the seeds out of each ring with your thumb. You get scalloped wheels that crisp on both faces instead of flat half-moons that only brown on one.

Cook

Cut into rings, seed them, toss in oil and salt, and roast at 425°F on a preheated sheet until the edges go dark. Skin on, always.

Season

September through November. Eat it within a month of buying it.

Best pairings

olive oil · sage · brown butter · maple · chili flake · parmesan

Also worth trying: pumpkin seed, thyme, garlic, apple cider, walnut, goat cheese, shallot, pomegranate, ricotta, kale.

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