Winter squash is one of the great pleasures of cold-weather cooking, but it can also be intimidating: hard to cut, slow to cook, and easy to turn into something overly sweet, bland, or one-note.

In this hands-on class, we’ll explore the range of winter squash, beginning with a guided taste test of several varieties, including delicata, acorn, honeynut, butternut, and kabocha. You’ll learn how different squashes vary in sweetness, starchiness, moisture, texture, and best uses, and how to choose the right squash for the dish you want to make.

Then we’ll cook our way through a menu that shows winter squash at its best: hearty and bright in a honeynut squash salad with wild rice, roasted lemon, and parsley; sweet, tart, and bitter in a squash medley panzanella with pomegranate molasses and persimmon; savory and rich in an acorn squash custard with brown butter, chili crisp, and Parmesan; and deeply caramelized in a kabocha squash miso caramel sauce served with Bi-Rite Creamery ice cream.

Along the way, you’ll learn how to safely break down winter squash, roast it for deeper flavor, balance its sweetness with acid, bitterness, salt, and heat, and use it in dishes that go far beyond soup and pie.

Menu:

• Squash Taste Test

• Honeynut Squash Salad with Wild Rice, Roasted Lemon & Parsley

• Squash Medley Panzanella with Pomegranate Molasses & Persimmon

• Savory Acorn Squash Custard with Brown Butter, Chili Crisp & Parmesan

• Kabocha Squash Miso Caramel Sauce served with Bi-Rite Creamery Ice Cream