EVER since the weather turned cold and blustery, I’ve had puff pastry on the brain in buttery, flaky profusion.

My initial thought was to make savory turnovers stuffed with autumnal ingredients. But which ones? Caramelized onions? Parsnips? Mushrooms? One of the many varieties of bulbous winter squash I keep eyeing at the farmers’ market?

In the end I decided on a combination of butternut squash, mushrooms and goat cheese. Butternut squash is easier to peel than its more decorative but thicker-skinned brethren. And I love its mellow sweetness, a good contrast to the rich earthiness of the mushrooms and the creaminess of the cheese.

With the filling elements in check, I thought about how to cook the vegetables and settled on sautéing. It’s faster than roasting, my other go-to vegetable cooking method.

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I cut the squash into small cubes and sautéed them with a touch of maple syrup to accentuate the natural sugars and help everything caramelize. When that was done, I cooked the mushrooms with garlic, shallot and wine until they reduced into an intense, meaty mass similar to what the French call duxelles, albeit a chunkier version.

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The last time I made duxelles, it was for a beef Wellington, which is essentially like a turnover, but formed into a long log to accommodate the long beef fillet rolled into the middle.