Butternut Squash, Goat Cheese, and Walnut Dip
Butternut squash is one of my favorite fall ingredients. I love using it so much that I actually created a squash tag for my blog. There’s a lot of good stuff in there.
You might notice a trend that most butternut squash recipes also feature goat cheese. I’m not sure what it is about that combination, but the pair so nicely together. It has to be the sweetness from the squash and the tanginess from the cheese.
I made this dip for a get-together with friends after getting a HUGE butternut squash in our CSA box one week. I had roasted the squash ahead of time and used it in a variety of recipes.
I did have to process this in the blender for quite some time to yield the super smooth texture that I was hoping for. If you wanted it more chunky, you could definitely leave it that way.
One Year Ago: Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies and Fire Roasted Tomato Soup with Roasted Chickpeas
Two Years Ago: Banana Cinnamon Chip Blondies
Three Years Ago: Baked Pork Chops with Parmesan-Sage Crust
Four Years Ago: Butternut Squash Soup in Crockpot and Shipping Cupcakes in a Jar
Five Years Ago: Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken and Pumpkin Cookies
Butternut Squash, Goat Cheese, and Walnut Dip
Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients:
1 medium butternut squash, (about 1.5 lbs)
cooking spray
1 head garlic
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
3 oz goat cheese
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
36 slices french bread baguette, 1/2 inch thick, toasted
Directions:
Preheat to 400.
Cut squash in 1/2 lengthwise, discard seeds.
Put squash cut side down on foil-lined jelly roll pan coated with cooking spray.
Remove papery skin from garlic but do not peel or separate cloves. wrap in foil. put on pan with squash. Bake at 400 for 30 min until squash is tender. scoop out pulp & discard skin. separate garlic cloves, squeeze to extract pulp, discard skins.
Place squash, garlic, salt & juice & cheese in food processor & process til smooth. spoon into bowl & sprinkle with nuts. serve with baguette slices.
Recipe from Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen, originally from Cooking Light
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I’m like you and totally try out recipes based on photos! I think goat cheese and fruit are always a perfect combo. The goat cheesecake sounds intriguing!
Looks and sounds amazing! I’m totally with you about photos of food – they are typically what tempt me to make a recipe.
This cake looks DELICIOUS!
I’d never heard of using goat cheese in a cheesecake, but I’m intrigued.
I, too, much prefer pictures. Sometimes you just don’t put the ingredients together in your head the right way and it comes out looking totally different than you expected. I also flip through the book faster and I tend to not find recipes unless there are pics!
i think trying something new without any idea what it should look like it rough. i love pictures but most cookbooks dont seem to have enough. i think thats why i love this blog so much, you take TONS! 🙂
i am very intrigued by this recipe. but i dont eat blueberries or peaches. is it good by itself? or is the fruit greatly needed??
Beeb – It’s similar to any other cheesecake. It was good on it’s own, but the fruit really enhanced the flavor. Are there other fruits you like that you could top it with? Strawberries and blueberries would be great!
Oh yum! I totally want to try this. I love goat cheese (and fruit) and bet this would make an amazing cake!
I like photos too, but sometimes I get a little too into them. Like the other night when I forgot to add raisins to my cinnamon raisin bread because they weren’t in the photo 🙂
Sues
I definitely prefer recipes with pictures but if a description is really good (or intriguing) or if an author points it out as a favorite… or lastly if it’s a source I trust, I go for it. With that said, I’m glad you made it and posted pictures. This cake looks (and sounds) absolutely fantastic!!!
This looks really good. I agree that sometimes I eat with my eyes. I love photos, but not the ones that look almost fake since they are so perfect. That’s why I love food blogs – usually it is just the food as it will be served.
I cook from a lot of different sources, and will try recipes that are appealing without any pics either. Sometimes it is more difficult when I am completely unfamiliar with the dish, though.
Photos! I love yours…the “cake” looks so pretty with it’s white lip and fruit piled high.
~ingrid
Sounds wonderful. I can see how it would be more of a “cheesecake” than a “cheese cake” because there’s such a small amount of flour. As we move into fall, I bet it would be delicious with a topping of figs sauteed with honey… mmm… honey figs and goat cheese!
LOVE goat cheese cheesecake 🙂 peaches and blueberries seem like another good topper (i recently made one with figs and raspberries!)
i really have to bake that cake for my boyfriend who has a milk intolerance. thank you for posting this many recipes with goat cheese 🙂
best wishes, jay, my blog: artandloveandme.blogspot.com