As the start of each season rolls in, I am persuaded that it is my favourite. This week, with the arrival of autumn’s first squashes, was no exception. I got the jumpers down from the loft in celebration.
For the past few weeks, squashes have been arriving in our veg box every Wednesday. Their shapes and colours are never the same: last week it was a squat, lacy-edged off-white pattypan and a cricket ball-sized acorn squash, dark and shiny on the outside and a deep pumpkin pie orange within. The previous week, there was a turban squash – green– and orange-striped and shaped like a cottage loaf – and a small, striped and pale-fleshed delicata. These squashes floor a lot of cooks who, unsure how to approach their gnarly curves, or don’t know if their skin is edible, second guess how long to cook them for.
Most squashes, though, are quite forgiving. The thinner-skinned ones can be chopped, skin-on and roasted in slices, and thick skinned squashes can be roasted whole, or stuffed or peeled and then roasted. The ever-present and delicious butternut squash is no exception.
Roast squash is one of the building blocks of a meal that I find really useful to have in the fridge. I’ll do a couple and keep leftovers to use as the week unfolds: in quick grain bowls, pastas, with noodles and even squashed into sandwiches. A cut small squash will roast in 20 minutes or less, so it can be a quick dinner from scratch, too.
Roast squash with lemongrass, peanut and lime
I eat this with lime-dressed buckwheat noodles or brown rice.
Serves 4
2 butternut squash
5 tbsp olive or coconut oil
2 tbsp coriander seeds
3 sticks lemongrass, finely chopped
3 red chillies, roughly chopped
4 limes
Salt
For the sauce
A thumb of ginger, peeled
250ml thick Greek or coconut yoghurt
150g roasted unsalted peanuts
A large bunch of coriander, leaves picked
1 Set the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6. If your squash is a butternut or thin-skinned variety, there is no need to peel it. Halve it, scoop out the seeds and cut into thick slices or boats. Lay them on a tray and drizzle with oil.
2 Bash the coriander seeds in a pestle and mortar. Add half the chopped lemongrass and bash again to break it down a little. Scatter this mixture over the squash with a good pinch of salt, and half of the chopped chilli.
3 Use a fine grater to zest 2 of the limes over the top of the pumpkin, then cut the two limes in half and squeeze the juice over the pumpkin. Toss everything together and put the lot into the hot oven for 45 minutes, or until the squash is golden.
4 Meanwhile, make the sauce. Put the reserved lemongrass into a bowl with the zest and juice of the remaining limes, finely grate in the ginger, add the yoghurt and mix well.
5 Once the squash is roasted perfectly, lay it on a serving platter, sprinkle over the peanuts and coriander leaves and serve the sauce on the side for spooning over.
Roast squash fregola with late tomatoes and spice
Serves 4
1 butternut or other squash
Salt and black pepper
6 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp nigella seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
400g assorted tomatoes, roughly chopped
300g fregola pasta
1-2 tbsp harissa paste, to taste
A handful of black olives, stoned
Extra virgin olive oil, to finish
100g feta (optional)
1 Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6. Chop the squash. If you are using butternut or other soft-skinned squash there’s no need to peel it. Halve and deseed the squash and cut it into 2cm pieces. Put on to a tray with some salt, pepper and 2 tbsp of the olive oil and toss to coat. Roast for 25 minutes, or until it’s golden brown.
2 Heat the rest of the oil in a large pan, add the nigella and cumin seeds and stir in the pan for a minute or two. Then add the tomatoes to the pan, letting them soften and collapse into a rough sauce over a moderate heat.
3 Put a large pan of water on to boil and add a little salt. Tip in the fregola and leave to bubble away for 8 minutes. Check its progress regularly, draining it as soon as it is tender.
4 Stir the harissa paste and the stoned olives into the tomatoes and season with a little salt (you won’t need much).
5 Cook until you have a rich, thick sauce then stir in the drained fregola and pumpkin. Check the seasoning and serve with a drizzle more oil. You could crumble some feta (or even salted ricotta) over, if you like.
- Anna Jones is a chef, writer and author of A Modern Way to Eat and A Modern Way to Cook (Fourth Estate); annajones.co.uk; @we_are_food
