There’s nothing better on a chilly winter day than a little comfort food. One of my absolute favorites is winter squash. Roasted, pureed, sautéed or mashed, this hearty veggie is sure to warm you up. 

Little known fact: Winter squash is in the same family as cucumbers and watermelon, though it’s a bit tough to see the resemblance. For one, winter squash isn’t watery and delicate like its summer-growing cousins. In season during the cooler autumn and winter months, winter squash sports a hard outer shell and meaty yellowish-orange flesh that’s packed with antioxidants—great for fighting off a winter cold. 

Thanks to the hard casing, winter squash can be stored up to 3 months in a cool, dry place. Keep them out of the fridge, which will cause them to rot in as little as two weeks.

The most common types of winter squash are acorn, spaghetti, hubbard, turban and butternut (called butternut pumpkin in Oz), which vary in color, shape and flavor. 

Acorn squash look like fat green teardrops and have a sweet and nutty flavor. You can always spot a hubbard squash by its unique knobby green or grey-blue shell. Its tender flesh has a strong pumpkin taste. Turban squash look like bumpy green turbans; they’re not super sweet, but have a gorgeous nutty flavor. Spaghetti squash, with its light yellow skin, is only slightly sweet. When cooked, its flesh turns into noodle-like strands. While they’re all spectacular, my go-to squash is the easy-to-find butternut. Its pale pinkish skin covers a strikingly sweet, dense orange flesh that works amazingly in any form you want to cook it.

With that said, light a fire, pour a glass of wine and cook up this delicious Roasted Squash with Pine Nuts and Sage recipe.