Sweet Potato & Butternut Squash Bake

The fixin’s

This week is all about Thanksgiving. And, as I already shared my pumpkin pie secrets, I am going to share another secret, albeit not my own.
Sweet potatoes are a given at Thanksgiving whether you like them or not.
I’ll be honest, I was a picky eater as a kid, because I remember not liking sweet potatoes. Mostly what I remembered of sweet potatoes is they were these ridiculously orange things that apparently came out of a can and were then smothered in brown sugar and marshmallows. I don’t know if I ever saw a raw sweet potato until I was out on my own in college. Or maybe I did, and just don’t remember.

Anyway, as that was the tradition, that’s what we had, whether at home or visiting friends and family.

The sweet nutty goodness.

As my tastes have changed, I started to wonder how people could take something so sweet and wonderful on its own and put it in a can, and take all the goodness out of it. I am a huge fan of sweet potatoes. I like them baked, with nothing added. Odd? Maybe, but I don’t think they need much else.

But at Thanksgiving, sometimes a little extra is a nice touch.  As I said, I borrowed this recipe from Lydia’s family, and as it is a family favorite, I only changed it slightly.

Don’t worry Jesse, I think you’ll still approve.

roasted and cubed butternut squash

Sweet Potato & Butternut Squash Bake; aka, Sweet Potato Delight:

Ingredients: 

Filling:

• 1 1/2 cups cooked, mashed sweet potato
• 1 1/2 cups cooked, mashed butternut squash
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup sugar, depending on how sweet you want it.
• 2 eggs, beaten well
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup milk  (I used coconut milk)
• 1/2 cup butter (I used earth balance)

Give the pecans a rough chop

Topping:

• 3/4 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/3 cup butter, again I used earth balance.

Method: 

the filling, waiting to get to know the topping

Cook the sweet potatoes and butternut squash.
I roasted the butternut squash the day before along with a pumpkin for another pie. I like that pumpkin pie, what can I say.
Roast it in an oven heated to 425 for about 45 minutes, or until you can easily pierce the skin with a knife.
I found the sweet potatoes will take a little longer, unless you have a pressure cooker.
Peeled and sliced, 15 minutes under pressure and the sweet potatoes are ready.
No pressure cooker? Throw the sweet potatoes in the oven with the butternut squash and check the sweet potatoes at the same time. Cooking times should be pretty close.

Everyone will love this version of a classic

Cube the squash and sweet potato and mash now or do like I did, and just throw everything in the blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Be careful if you do this when the squash and sweet potato are still hot. Some appliances won’t handle the heat well.
Pour this mixture into a buttered pie plate or casserole dish.
For the topping, mix the ingredients with a fork. Cut the butter in like you would a pie crust. Spread all that sweet nutty goodness all over the filling.
Bake the whole thing for 30 minutes in an oven heated to 350.

Enjoy – at Thanksgiving, or anytime.

Greg

Sweet Potato & Butternut Squash Bake