It’s right around this time of year when we find ourselves in the midst of a serious winter squash rut. Don’t get us wrong, we love hard-skinned squash. When the weather grows cold, we look for Acorn Squash at the market as a the first sign of Fall. In the end of the warmer months, we yearn for sweet Delicata and the speckled skin of Carnival. Butternut, particularly, is our bread and butter. But every year around this time, without fail, we grow weary of our tried-and-true methods of roasting it with some warm spices or pureeing it into a soup.
Well, we are happy to report a winter squash redemption story in the form of these Butternut Squash – Kale Fritters. These crisp, pillowy little fritters certainly take winter squash out of its comfort zone while making the most out of good, seasonal produce. Grated squash is mixed with thin strips of sautéed Lacinato kale (this variety of kale tends to be more tender than others), chopped garlic, grated onion, flour (to help crisp the fritters) and egg (to hold the mixture all together). The batter is fried in batches in a skillet until golden brown and crunchy. It’s very tempting to eat the fritters right out of the pan when they’re hot. And by all means, please do so. But also note that the fritters taste great with a hearty salad like this one, topped with a runny egg, or as a side dish to any sort of roasted meat.
We should also warn you that if there was ever a time to pull out the grater attachment of your standing mixer or food processor, this is it. The machine makes easy work of creating a 4-cup pile of grated squash. But if you like to cook and and get in a complete upper-body workout at the same time, then use the large holes of your box grater and go to town.
Either way, these Butternut Squash-Kale Fritters are sure to reenergize you and your winter squash.
- 1 bunch lacinato kale
- 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tsp. salt, plus more to taste, divided
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 medium butternut squash, peeled, halved, seeded and cut into large chunks
- ½ onion
- ½ cup all-purpose gluten-free flour
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- Coarse sea salt (optional)
- Cut out and discard tough center rib of kale; rinse leaves. Stack small pile of leaves, roll up cigar-style and cut crosswise into thin strips; repeat with remaining kale. Heat olive oil in 12” cast-iron or nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic; cook until light golden brown, about 30 seconds. Add kale and 2 tbsp. water; season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until kale wilts and water is completely evaporated, about 5 minutes. Transfer kale to large mixing bowl; set aside. Wipe out skillet and set aside.
- Using grater-attachment of standing mixer or food processor, or using large holes of box grater, grate butternut squash onto clean dish towel or stacked paper towels. Then, grate onion onto pile of butternut squash. Wring out liquid from squash-onion mixture, changing towels once (there will be about 4 cups butternut squash-onion mixture). Transfer squash-onion mixture to bowl with reserved kale. Mix in flour, eggs, 1 tsp. salt and black pepper.
- Heat about ¼” oil in reserved skillet over medium-high heat until oil shimmers but does not smoke. Working in batches and taking care not to crowd pan, drop ¼-cupfuls of butternut squash mixture into skillet, flattening slightly. Cook until golden brown and crisp about 3 minutes per side; transfer to cooling rack. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt, if desired. Repeat with remaining butternut squash mixture, adding more oil to pan as necessary. Serve immediately.
I’m extremely impressed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your blog.
Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself? Anyway keep up the nice quality writing, it’s rare to see a great blog like this one today.
Hello! This is a paid theme that we also modified. Thank you for the compliment =) !!
Sounds wonderful!!! I have to try it. How do I save the recipe?? Do you think it would work with one of those air fryers?
Hi Aunt Carol! You can click on the “save recipe” button on the recipe, then create an account to save your recipes. Or, you can print it out by pressing the “print” button on the recipe. A third option would be to bookmark the page by clicking on the “bookmark” option on the top of your browser (mine is located on the top left of my browser, and I have a Mac.)
I haven’t ever used an air fryer, so I’m not sure how that will work. But if you try it, please let me know how it turns out!
I blog quite often and I really appreciate your information. This article has truly peaked my interest.
I’m going to bookmark your site and keep checking for new information about once a week.
I subscribed to your Feed too.
Thank you, come back as often as you can! We post a new recipe every Thursday.