No peel method!
- Butternut squash
Line a medium-sized baking sheet with aluminum foil. Heat the oven to 400°F.
With a heavy-duty chef's knife, cut off the stem of the butternut squash.
Then, cut the squash in half. It may be helpful to cut one side to the middle of the squash, then cut from the other side to meet the previous cut. Most kitchen knives are too small to cut through the whole squash at once.
You can also stand the squash on end and cut from the top down, but be careful to get equal halves.
Move the squash to the aluminum foil-lined baking sheet. Brush the squash halves with olive oil, then flip the squash cut-side down.
Bake the squash for about 50 minutes at 400°F. The skin will darken and may blister. You can press against the flesh with tongs, it wil be pliable when it's cooked. A fork inserted cleanly will indicate the squash is done, too.
When the squash is cooked, remove it from the oven, and use tongs to flip the squash over cut-side up. This will let the team escape so the squash can cool faster.
Once the squash is cooled, scoop out the seeds, then scoop out the flesh for soup or another use.