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Meet Delicata Squash:
Don't be intimidated by those curves!
Sweet, creamy, and wonderfully easy to prepare, delicata may just be the most underrated squash. No need to navigate around those curves—there's no need to peel it! Delicata's thin skin softens as it cooks, so simply slice it in half (or into rings), scoop out the seeds and roast.
The flesh turns tender and caramelized in the oven, making delicata delicious simply roasted with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Or give it a taste of fall with maple syrup, sage, apples, or a drizzle of local honey.
In other words: Don't let those curves intimidate you. Delicata is one easy squash to love.
5 Things You May Not Know About Delicata Squash
1. You can eat the skin!
This may be delicata's best feature. Its thin, tender rind softens when cooked, so there's no peeling required. Just wash it, cut it, scoop out the seeds and cook.
2. It's actually related to zucchini.
Delicata is a variety of Cucurbita pepo—the same species that includes zucchini, summer squash and acorn squash.
3. It's not as old as you might think.
Although squash has been cultivated in the Americas for thousands of years, delicata itself is a relatively recent variety. It was introduced in the United States in 1894.
4. It’s sometimes called “sweet potato squash.”
With its sweet, fine-textured flesh, delicata is often compared to sweet potato—but we love it even more because it cooks faster and has about half the calories!
5. There are different kinds of delicata.
The familiar cream-colored squash with green stripes isn't the only one. There are varieties such as Honey Boat, Bush Delicata and Sweet Dumpling, with differences in shape, color, size and growing habit. Cornell University even developed Bush Delicata, which won an All-America Selections award in 2002.
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