Necessity may be the mother of invention, but I find in my kitchen, so is a hunk of leftover something I need to use up. In this case, the something was half of a butternut squash that had been in the frig. It was there everytime I opened the door, all "better find a reason to cook me or I'm going to get fuzzy." What to do? 

Let the season inspire you, that's what! Latkes have been prominent in some of the cooking site emails I've been getting in the last week, so I thought "butternut squash and potatoes aren't all that far apart...hmm." One thought led to another and whiz bang boom....Butternut Squash Latkes! A quick Google search post-development shows I'm not the first person to think of this, but as I did think of it without Googling it first, I think I can take some recipes development credit. And here it is:

Butternut Squash Latkes

1.5 cups grated butternut squash, water squeezed out*

⅛ cup grated onion

2 tbls all purpose flour

1 tbls cornmeal

1 tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

⅛ tsp nutmeg

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 tbls unsalted butter

Mix squash, onion, flour, cornmeal, salt, pepper and nutmeg in a large bowl, making sure the flour and cornmeal coat the squash. Stir in the egg thoroughly. Let the batter rest for 5 minutes (it will be very chunky). While the batter is resting, heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the butter, letting it foam and subside. Using a large serving spoon or ½ cup measure, scoop balls of squash mixture into the pan, pressing flat with a spatula. Do not crowd the pan. Fry for 4-5 minutes on each side, until the latkes are golden brown and crisp on the edges. Drain briefly on a paper towel lined plate. Serve hot. 

*wrapping it in a tea towel and twisting the bejesus out of it works pretty well for this. 

Visual evidence of the finished product and my inabilities as a food photographer.