Would you believe me if I said that my family has eaten 5 butternut squashes so far this season? First there was butternut squash soup, then there was butternut squash and quinoa stuffed portobello mushrooms. Now for number 6, we’ve got butternut squash fritters with sage and feta.

Eating seasonal means that in the winter months when vegetables aren’t plucked from the ground but picked from the shelves of the root cellar, you end up eating the same veggies over and over: those that grew in the late fall and can endure a long New England winter. It’s important to come up with new ways to eat these same foods, and luckily I am obsessed with butternut squash.

This recipe for fritters is based on a recipe from Anya Kassoff’s The Vibrant Table: Recipes from My Always Vegetarian, Mostly Vegan, and Sometimes Raw Kitchen. It’s a quick recipe, especially if you start with already cooked butternut squash. She adds a tbsp of parsley, which I decided to skip, and I added more garlic because I love garlic.

This was the first time that I made this recipe, and my fritters didn’t turn out like the fritters in Anya’s cookbook. Her recipe tells you to squish the squash to remove any excess liquid but I didn’t do that. I didn’t think I really needed to since it didn’t seem that wet to me. But if I had done that, maybe a little less liquid would have meant they’d be more crispy #lessonsfromthekitchen

Butternut Squash Fritters

Makes 12 appetizer-sized fritters

Total time: 30 minutes (90 minutes if cooking butternut squash from raw)

In my Basket:

2 cups of Butternut Squash (from Stearns Farm, Framingham MA)

1 medium Yellow Onion (from Stearns Farm, Framingham MA)

2 cloves of Garlic (from Stearns Farm, Framingham MA)

1 handful of Sage (from Stearns Farm, Framingham MA)

1 1/2 oz Sea Salty Feta (from Narragansett Creamery, Providence RI)

1 large Egg (from Chestnut Farms, Hardwick MA)

From the Pantry:

2 tbsp Olive Oil

3/4 cup Brown Rice Flour

A couple shakes of Paprika

A dash of Nutmeg

1. If you’re starting with raw butternut squash, cut squash in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and membrane. Place halves on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Melt 2 tbsp butter and baste over cut sides of squash, salt and pepper cut sides. Roast in the oven at 425° for 45-60 minutes, cut sides up. When squash is tender when pierced with a fork, remove from oven and set aside to cool. Turn oven down to 400°.
2. If starting with pre-cooked butternut squash, preheat oven to 400°. Place sheet of parchment on a baking sheet, set aside.
3. Heat 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, cook for 1 minute. Add onion, cook for 5 minutes or until translucent. Set aside to cool.
4. In a large bowl, add the squash, brown rice flour, feta cheese, egg, sage, paprika and nutmeg. Once cool, add the onions and garlic. Stir to combine thoroughly.
5. Scoop out a heaping tbsp of squash mixture and shape into a wide circle on the baking sheet. Brush the tops with the remaining olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes on each side. (If making dinner portions, double the serving of squash mixture and bake for twice as long).
6. When done, plate and serve with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt. Enjoy!

Alice Kathryn Richardson is a new media photojournalist and creator of The Clean Food Club. She previously spent two years working on Deserts in the District, a series of short-form documentaries exploring food access and hunger in Washington, DC. She is committed to supporting local and sustainable food businesses by telling their stories with photo and video. Follow her on Twitter @AKR_Pictures.