Kitchen Tip: Removing Seeds from Squash

As much as I love winter squash, in all its varieties, one thing I can’t stand is the seeding. In fact, many folks who have participated in my classes have heard my sage advice about throwing a whole squash, uncut, into the oven. After an hour or so (but who’s counting?) most squashes are tender enough to cut easily with a knife; the seeds almost fall out with little or no assistance. Works perfectly for me, most of the time. However, there are times that I want to peel and dice a winter squash raw. That means I have to tackle the tenacious seeds with they seem to have the strongest and slipperiest grip on the squash flesh. Recently, while multi-tasking making cookies and preparing a butternut squash for a recipe that required the dreaded seeding procedure, I held the portion scoop I was using for the cookies in my hand while making space for the squash on the counter and I had an epiphany; scoop out the seeds with the portion scoop instead of a spoon. Unlike the spoon that often bends when I’m scraping out the seeds, the scoop is hard and strong, no bending here. The sharpish sides do a great job of ridding the squash, not only of the seeds but of all the stringy fibers that linger. If you’re a genius and already figured this out, bravo. If you haven’t, I know you’ll find this to be a much easier method, so give it a go.