Butternut Squash Soup

M and I were both ill, and we’d had colds for over a week. Soup – and lots of it – was what we needed. So I made butternut squash soup. It’s really soothing and flavourful, especially when served with fresh bread.

 

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash

2 shallots or 1 onion

oil

1 vegetable stock cube

1 tbsp maple syrup, plus extra

2-3 cups water

1-2 cups milk (I used rice milk)

cream (I used Oatly)

 

Instructions:

1. Roast the squash in the oven at 180 C for 40-60 minutes. Halve it halfway through so the inside gets fully cooked.

2. Peel and slice the shallots/onion and fry lightly in oil. Add the stock cube and maple syrup and caramelise slightly.

3. Peel and de-seed the squash. Put in chunks into the pan. Add the water and cook for 10-15 minutes.

4. Add the milk and cook over medium heat for another 10 minutes.

5. Puree and then swirl in a little more maple syrup and some cream.

Butternut Squash Tagine

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash

100 g spinach

water

couscous (about 75 g per person)

1 tin chickpeas

spices (cinnamon, mint, smoked paprika, black pepper, etc)

 

Instructions:

1. Roast the squash for about 40 minutes at 190 C. Slice it in half and roast for another 10-15 minutes.

2. Defrost or wilt the spinach. Boil the water and pour it over the spinach and couscous (the water should just cover the couscous.

3. After a few minutes, add the chickpeas. Peel and chop the squash and add it.

4. Season to taste and serve.

 

Squash Couscous

This was a simple weeknight meal that was healthy and full of flavour. The tomatoes might seem a bit odd, but I had tomatoes to use, so I added them. It worked fine, but you can leave them out too.

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash
oil
1 courgette
1 tsp sugar
2 tomatoes
200 g couscous
water
¼ cup raisins
handful of pine nuts (about 30 g)
2 tbsp crème fraiche or yogurt, optional
salt
black pepper

Instructions:
1. Wash the butternut squash and coat it lightly with oil. Roast it in the oven at 200 C for about an hour, until the skin has browned. Leave aside to cool.
2. Wash and dice the courgette. Fry it in oil over low heat for about 8-10 minutes. Add the sugar so it caramelises.
3. Meanwhile, peel and de-seed the squash. Dice it into small pieces and add to the pan.
4. Wash and slice the tomatoes and add them as well. Continue to stir-fry.
5. Put the couscous in a pot. Boil the water and add it to the couscous. Leave it to stand, covered, for about 5 minutes.
6. Add the raisins and pine nuts to the squash.
7. For a more creamy couscous, add the crème fraiche or yogurt to pot and mix in well.
8. Season the squash with salt and black pepper to taste.
9. Serve the squash over the couscous.

Leek and Butternut Squash Gratin

As the seasons shift, I’m starting to use fewer heavy, wintry ingredients, such as squash, or I combine them with more spring-like things, such as leeks or asparagus or peas, which helps to lighten them up. Here, I’ve made a gratin with squash and leeks. It’s hearty enough for a chilly evening, but not so heavy that it sits in your stomach and makes you want to hibernate.

Ingredients:
3 leeks
oil
salt
pepper
mustard powder
½ butternut squash (roasted – use any leftovers you have from another dish)
150 g Gruyere or similar cheese
150 ml crème fraiche

Instructions:
1. Wash and slice the leeks, then fry lightly in the oil for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt, pepper, and mustard powder.
2. Add chunks of the squash and continue to fry for another few minutes.
3. Oil a casserole dish. Shred or chop the cheese and add it and the crème fraiche to the vegetables.
4. Pour the vegetables into the casserole dish and bake for about 20 minutes at 200 C until golden brown.

Rice with Butternut Squash, Cashews, Raisins, and Pomegranate

This has a Middle Eastern flavour and is healthy and gluten-free. I loved the combination of spices and how they suited the vegetables.

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash
oil
rice (50 g per person; use brown basmati for a slightly more nutty flavour)
water
2 onions
1 tsp sugar
1 handful raisins
about 50 g cashews (or a handful)
2 cardamom pods
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mint
seeds from 1 pomegranate

Instructions:
1. Rub the squash in oil and roast it in the oven for about 50 minutes at 180 C. When it has cooled, peel it and dice it.
2. Boil the rice in the water. This will take 25-35 minutes.
3. Dice the onions and fry them lightly in some oil. Add the sugar so they caramelise.
4. Cover the raisins with boiling water and set aside for 20 minutes, until they plump up.
5. Crush the cashews and the cardamom pods in a mortar and pestle.
6. Add the squash to the onions and fry for a few more minutes, then add in the cashews, cardamom, cinnamon, and mint.
7. When the rice is ready, add it to the frying pan. Mix everything well.
8. Serve the rice topped with pomegranate seeds.

Butternut Squash with Puy Lentils and Goat Cheese

Puy lentils are the caviar of lentils. They are small and delicate, have a fuller flavour than other kinds of lentils, and retain their firm shape even when cooked for quite a while. M isn’t terribly fond of lentils, but I am, and I thought I’d make her a dish with puy lentils to see if she liked this type any better.

So I cooked the lentils for 20 minutes in boiling water and at the same time, I baked a butternut squash in the oven. I added cream to both the lentils and the squash, and served it all with goat’s milk cheese. The squash’s sweetness, the faint peppery flavour of the lentils, and the sourness of the cheese all combined to make a hearty vegetarian main course.

M still isn’t a big lentil fan, but she said she’d eat this dish again. And that’s a good start!

Ingredients:
1 medium butternut squash
200 g puy lentils
water for boiling
150 ml cream (single or double; it depends on how rich you want it)
honey or agave
100 g goat’s milk cheese
salt, pepper, parsley to taste

Instructions:
1. Bake the squash for 20 minutes at 200 C. Then cut it in half and de-seed it (save the seeds to roast later, if you want), and bake for another 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, boil the lentils for about 15 minutes, until they are cooked but still firm. Pour out any excess water.
3. Add half the cream to the lentils and the rest to the squash. Make sure it doesn’t run off the squash.
4. Sprinkle the squash halves with a little honey or agave, to bring out the natural sweetness. Bake for another 5-10 minutes, until fully cooked. Continue cooking the lentils over low heat at the same time.
5. Serve the squash halves with piles of lentils that have been topped with crumbled cheese. Season with salt, pepper, and parsley to taste.

Vegetable and Coconut Stir-Fry

The other night, I wanted to use up a variety of odds and ends before embarking on shopping for some new recipes. So I made a vegetable and coconut stir-fry. M and I ate it from bowls while sitting in a cuddly fashion on the couch, and we had another bread and butter pudding afterwards. Plus I made so much that I had leftovers for lunch the next day.

Basically, I stir-fried red onion, tender-stem broccoli, pak choi, red chilli, and haricot together. Then I added fresh rice noodles and stir-fried some more. After that, I poured in a tin of light coconut milk, and I seasoned it all with leftover red pesto. It sounds odd, combining coconut milk, which we associate with Thailand, with Italian pesto, but it actually worked together. Curry paste or black bean sauce would have worked just as well. So this is a simple, healthy, quick meal to make that can be varied according to taste and according to what you've got around.

Ingredients:
about 400 g of mixed vegetables (onions, spinach or pak choi, broccoli, and cubes of squash are good choices)
oil
300 g fresh rice noodles
1 tin light coconut milk
3-4 Tbs pesto (or curry paste, or 1-2 Tbs black bean sauce)

Instructions:

1. Chop the vegetables into cubes or dice them, as appropriate.
2. Heat the oil and add the veg. Stir fry for 5-10 minutes, depending on what type of veg you're using.
3. Add the noodles and stir fry for another 5 minutes.
4. Pour in the coconut milk and let the whole thing cook for another 5 or so minutes, until the milk has warmed.
5. Add the sauce and stir well.
6. Serve.

Cornmeal Pancakes

One of my favourite memories from childhood is eating my mother’s cornmeal pancakes. She would make these on Sunday morning and serve a thick stack each to me and my father. We’d cover them in maple syrup, and my parents would have bacon too, so we could just feel this heavy meal settling in our tummies and weighing us down. You want to sleep after eating these pancakes, not get up and do something active.

Which is why I decided to make them on a recent Friday night, after M and I had been to the gym. We’d both worked full days and we’d done our exercise, and now we just wanted to relax, have dinner, and hang out a little before bed. I made my pancakes a bit thinner than my mother’s and served fewer of them, and I served them with raspberries and slices of banana, so at least we were getting some fruit too. We covered them with agave, rather than maple syrup, which I find too sweet. M liked them so much that I made them again a few days later, served with raspberries and slices of pear.

Ingredients:
1 cup polenta/cornmeal
1 cup hot water
1 Tbs sugar
1 cup flour (use a bit less to make them thinner or a bit more to make them thicker)
.5 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1 egg
.5 cup milk (you can also use cream or soy milk)
oil or butter for frying
fruit to serve with the pancakes
maple syrup or agave to serve with the pancakes

Instructions:

1. Put the polenta/cornmeal (what you call it depends on where you’re from) in a bowl and add the water. Leave this to sit for 10-15 minutes, until the water is all absorbed.
2. Meanwhile, mix the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the cornmeal and mix.
4. Beat the egg and add it. Then add the milk.
5. Melt butter or warm oil in a frying pan.
6. Spoon the batter into the pan. It will be thick. You might want to press out any larger lumps. Fry on both sides until golden brown and a bit crispy. This takes just a couple of minutes.
7. Serve with fruit and syrup or agave.

A Soothing Meal - Butternut Squash and Pesto Penne

My stomach hasn't been feeling well lately, probably due to stress at work. So I haven't felt much like cooking or eating. But I was feeling weak, and so last night I wanted to make a proper meal.

I had a butternt squash in the fridge. I'd planned to roast it with agave nectar and cream, but that didn't seem like a wise move under the circumstances. So I baked it for about 10 minutes at 200 C to soften it, and then M, who often serves as my sous chef extraordinaire, peeled and chopped it into 1 cm pieces. Then I put it back in the oven for another 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, M chopped an onion, and I carmelised it in a pan with olive oil and agave. I love using agave for cooking; it's not as sweet as sugar or honey, and it has a lower GI index, for those who are concerned about such things.

I put the dried whole-wheat penne in with it for a couple of minutes, so it would pick up some of the sweet, oniony flavour. I poured boiling water over it and let the penne boil for 10 minutes, until it was nicely al dente.

I drained the penne and onion, added two containers of chopped tomatoes, warmed it all up. I added the squash, some yogurt, and a couple of heaping tablespoons of red pesto.

And dinner was served. It soothed my stomach and filled us both up.

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash
1 onion
1 Tbs olive oil
2 tsp agave (or honey or sugar)
2 servings of pasta (see the bag/box for the right amount -- I often make double to amount so M and I both have leftovers for lunch the next day; also, whole-wheat is healthier and tastier)
400-800 grams chopped tomatoes, or 1-2 tins (depending how tomatoey you like it)
3 Tbs Greek-style yogurt
2-3 Tbs red pesto

Instructions
1. Chop and peel the squash (or bake it first to soften it, then chop and peel it).
2. Roast the squash pieces for 15 min at 200 C.
3. Chop the onion.
4. Carmelise the onion in olive oil and agave.
5. Add the pasta to the pan and coat it with the onion and oil, and let it toast for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.
6. Add boiling water and boil for 10-12 minutes, until al dente.
7. Drain.
8. Add the tomatoes and warm.
9. Add the yogurt, pesto, and squash pieces.
10. Mix well and warm.
11. Serve and enjoy.