butternut squash – Food That We Make

Butternut Squash and Chickpea Curry

hannahnicklin — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 22:03:24 +0000

Aaaaaah, it’s been bloody AGES since my last recipe. Apologies. First I was finishing a PhD, then I was doing a residency where I was travelling to Yorkshire most weeks and cooking on the go, then I was POOR, and I couldn’t afford to experiment with food. And now I live in London. And am even poorer really, except the difference is I have less time because 2 hours of my day is commuting. But determined to get back on the food blog wagon. (WAGON). So expect a series of CHEAP EATS, for making in bulk and reheating for lunch or dinner. This week I have lentil chilli and this fine recipe; butternut squash and chickpea curry based pretty faithfully on a Good Food recipe. Served with rice in the evenings, or with a pitta for lunch.

Prep: 10 mins | Cook: 35 mins | Serves: 4

Nutritional Info: 393 kcalories, protein 14g, carbohydrate 71g, fat 8 g, saturated fat 1g, fibre 9g, sugar 16g, salt 0.94 g

NB I got this info off the recipe and I’m too tired to work out if it includes the rice or not, so when I record it, I just add on 50g of basmati rice, which brings the meal to: 571g kcalories, 110g carbs, 9g fat, 18g protein, 376mg sodium, 16g sugar.

Chop up the butternut squash. This is the worst bit of the recipe. From here on in it’s plain sailing. I chop squash the lazy way: slice off sections horizontally, so you have a load of cross section disks, then chop the skin off the sides with it laying flat, you end up with octagon-ish bits of just flesh, which then I section into chunks. Top Squash Tip.

Add the oil to the pan, heat, then add the squash and sautee until browning, about 10 mins

Then add the onion and the garlic, stir, and soften for 5-10 mins more

Add the curry paste, pop it on a high heat, and get it all lovely and covered and fragrant

Then add the stock, stir well, and simmer until squash is almost perfectly soft. Pop your rice on just as it’s getting soft-ish. About 5 minutes for basmati, and 10-15 for brown, before you think the squash is at almost.

Add the chickpeas and tomatoes (I used tinned), stir well, and simmer for a last 5 mins.

Just before serving, stir through chopped coriander. Serve with rice and soya yoghurt. Or pitta. Or naan. Or chapati. You get it.

Creamy Butternut Squash, Chive, and Pine Nut Tagliatelle.

hannahnicklin — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 22:08:05 +0000

Properly delicious, this. The first time I made it I was a little underwhelmed and found it a little stodgy, but the magical addition of a little white wine into the cooking lightens and sharpens the flavour perfectly. Big filling, warming dish, which but for the pine nuts is pretty cheap, is certainly simple, and vegan.

So, how to:

Prep: 10 mins | Cook: 25 mins | Serves: 4
Nutritional info: 494 kcal, 32g carbs, 28g fat, 12g protein

Ingredients pic (less the wine, and pictured for one)

Prep the onion, garlic, weigh out the other things, make the stock, and cube the butternut squash to approx 1cm cubes. Be careful not to slip with the knife on the squash. I do this all the time. Unfun.

And then, before you start, toast your pine nuts, watch them carefully in a dry pan and brown all over, then tip out.

Next, melt the butter in a large pan, add the onions, soften, and then add the garlic and stir for a couple of minutes. Here are some pictures in case you can’t imagine how that looks:

Next, add the cubed squash, stir around for a couple of minutes, then add a good splash per person of white wine. Let that reduce a little, then add the veg stock (it should just about cover the squash), add the nutmeg (to taste), bring to the boil, and simmer gently until the squash is soft. MEANWHILE

Start the water boiling for the tagliatelle, and about 5 minutes in chuck it in the water with a bit of salt. When the squash is soft and lovely, blend it with 1/3 of the chives, and return to the pan with the cream, stirring through. (NB. I later discovered it was better to blend with the cream and then heat through)

Once the sauce has warmed through, hopefully the pasta should be done, add it to the pan, with 2/3 of the pine nuts, and 1/3 of the chives. Mix together

Then dole it onto plates, scattering the remaining chives and pine nuts over the top.

Doesn’t look mega appetising, but it’s warm and filling and tasty. So, y’know, whatevs.

Porotos Granados

hannahnicklin — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 18:20:56 +0000

Super simple brilliant veg stew, this, one of those vegan meals that inexplicably tastes meaty, might be the beans and paprika. Simple so long as you have a knife sharp enough to do butternut squash. Careful when you chop it, slippery veg, that. Anyway, that’s what adds to the prep time on this one, peeling an’ chopping that there squash. I’d be generous with the paprika if you just have regular stuff, and with the seasoning, too. Stupidly nice dinner with a big hunk of bread, or full enough to be a lunch on its own. TASTY. Original recipe by that HFW bloke in his ‘River Cottage Veg Everyday’ book.

Prep: 10 mins | Cook: 30 mins | Serves: 4-6
Nutritional info: Per 1/4 335kcal 51g carbs 10g fat 12g protein

Ingredients:

Soften the onions and garlic for 5-10 minutes

add 3/4 of the oregano and the paprika, stir for a minute

Add the bay leaf, drained tinned beans, squash, stock, and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the squash is just getting tender

Then add the french beans and sweetcorn and simmer for 5 minutes more

Just as the green beans are ready, season very well (I used one and half tsp of salt and loads of pepper), add the last bit of oregano, and serve!

Very filling. Good stuff.

Leek, squash and gorgonzola risotto,

hannahnicklin — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 19:19:41 +0000

I love risotto. Such an ace opportunity to take a basic set up and put together loads of different variations on flavours. This one’s unorthodox in containing NO ONION, which would be good for my mate Lucy who’s both gluten intolerant and allergic to onions. I know you’re glad I told you that. This’un’s from the Vegetarian Student Cookbook. I’m not 100% which one, but it’s definitely the one I’ve got, so if you really want to know, I will go and dig it out off the shelf. On the basis that you probably don’t care, though, for now I’ll leave it.

As for alterations, I parboiled the squash really briefly before roasting because I was lazy and wanted this to be a quick dinner. I also added a splash of white wine before adding stock, and as a mid-cooking thought picked some sage and chucked that in (chopped). Seemed to work. Will try it without tomorrow and if it’s better (because competing strong flavours isn’t always the best thing) I’ll edit with that info. For now:

Prep time: 5 mins | Cook time: 30-35 mins | Serves: 2
Nutritional info: (without added wine, and gorging inappropriately on additional gorgonzola while cooking): 470 kcal, 81g carbs, 12g fat, 11g protein

Ingredients pic:

Chop/peel/cube the squash, pop in a roasting tin with the oil, season and shake to coat well. Roast on a high heat (I dunno, about 200’c, I didn’t really look) for 30 minutes.

meanwhile… melt the butter in a pan, add the leeks and garlic, and cook for 5 minutes or so, until the leek has softened. Get the stock on the boil.

Add the risotto rice, stir until coated in the butter and cook for about a minute before chucking in (if using) the wine, then once that’s been absorbed/evaporated, start doing that with batches of the stock.

This is where I actually added the sage, but if I were you, I’d add it when you’re softening the leek, FYI.

Once the risotto is al dente (soft, with a tiny bit of bite) add the roasted squash and gorgonzola, stir well until the cheese has melted, and serve immediately.

Drizzle oil if you’re feeling posh/happy to consume an additional 50-100 kcal.

Baked Butternut Squash Falafel with Cucumber Yoghurt

hannahnicklin — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 23:20:35 +0000

I’m a pretty big fan of this basic falafel recipe for quick and uber tasty falafel-based lunch goodness, but do like to change things around now and then so thought I might branch out to a butternut squash recipe. These are also slightly healthier because there’s an alternative dip to slathering them in guacamole (which I am wont to do) and they’re baked, not fried, making them less greasy. Still vegan, too. These keep really well in the fridge, so to get around the long cooking time (for lunch, relatively speaking) of the butternut squash, make a big batch at the beginning of the week, roll them into balls, and bake 4 at a time straight out of the frige. Be careful with the spice if you do this, though, they will mature!

Based on this recipe, but variously un-complicated for my laziness.

Prep Time: 35 | Cook Time: 20 | Servings: 4 (4 falafel per serving, 16 total)
Nutritional info: falafel and yoghurt: 248 kcal, 27g carbs, 10g fat, 10g protein. For adding pitta and salad (rocket, 1 tomato, cucumber) add 175kcal.

Ingredients:

First off, set the oven to 200’c, cube the butternut squash, and shake them up in a roasting pan with the oil, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp cumin, the cinnamon, salt and pepper. Roast for 35-40 mins until lovely and smooshy.

meanwhile, pop the chickpeas, remaining ground coriander and cumin, bicarb of soda, fresh parsley, fresh coriander and chilli powder to taste (1 tsp as a basic level) in a bowl.

blend this until smooshy. Add a touch of water or oil if it’s too stiff.

Then, while still waiting for the squash, make the yoghurt dip by combining the grated cucumber, squeeze of lemon, yoghurt and salt and pepper to taste, mixing well, and popping back in the fridge to remain nice and cool.

when the butternut squash are finally done, add this to the chickpeas herbs and spice blend, and blend some more, until you have a lovely falafelly dough.

Form into 16 small balls (4 per serving) and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until well browned. Put any you want to use later into the fridge to keep.

Serve in toasted pitta with a salad and the dressing. Voila, etc:

Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup (vegan)

hannahnicklin — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 18:13:00 +0000

Main modification to this was adding bloody loads of fresh coriander. Think it was a brill decision. The rest is pretty much as-is in the new Veggie Cookbook I have. Did I mention I have a new cook book? Expect lots of new recipes. This is another good one for a super healthy and filling lunch. Also reeeeally tasty. Butternut squash is my favourite of the vegetables, closely followed by sweet potato. BEST SOUP. Vegan, too. And with a nice bit of kick from the chillies (which I recently learnt I am not allergic to! Hurrah! Just regular peppers. For whatever reason)

Anyway. INFORMATION:

Prep Time: 20 | Cook Time: 35 | Servings: 10 at 300-350g per serving. This soup makes 3000g of soup. FYI. I weighed it.

Nutritional Info: 78 kcal, 2g fat (trace saturates), 14g carbs, 0.8mg salt (this is for 350g per serving according to the book, but this seems very low in terms of calories)

Ingredients:
I like the wobbly potato.

WHAT DO I PUT WHERE?

Heat the oil in a large pan over a gentle heat and fry the onion for about 10 mins until soft.

Add the coriander seeds and chillies and cook for 1-2 mins

Add the squash, sweet potatoes and tomatoes and cook for 5 mins.

Add the stock, cover and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 mins or until the veg is soft.

chop the coriander

Puree the soup until smooth, season with salt and pepper. stir through the coriander, and serve with a sprinkling on top and some fresh bread

ohhh yeaaah.

One pot mushroom, aubergine and butternut squash curry (vegan)

hannahnicklin — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 22:59:33 +0000

So for this recipe based on this I made a couple of large-ish changes, mainly replacing the potatoes with butternut squash, and specifying tikka curry paste (but if you make your own, one with lots of garlic and tomato puree) – the one from Marks and Spencer is the tastiest this recipe has been. I also rarely add stock, because making 75ml with a cube is HARD. Use posh proper stock from a bag thing if you can, but otherwise just slosh water around your coconut milk container/jug and that should be enough, don’t add too much, it really doesn’t need it. It was tastiest when I had some spinach to hand, too, so chuck in some of that.

Also, you all know how to make perfect rice, right? I hit it recently. Just in case: 50g rice per person, 110ml water per person, rinse the rice to fuck, then put water/rice in a LIDDED pan. Never take the lid off once boiling, wait until the water has just nearly boiled away, take off heat and leave with lid on for 8-10 mins. Start it at the same time you start on the onions for this recipe and it’ll be just right.

ONE POT MUSHROOM AUBERGINE AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH CURRY.

Prep Time: 10 mins | Cook Time: 20 mins | Servings: 2
Nutritional Info: 212kcalories, protein 5g, carbohydrate 15g, fat 15 g, saturated fat 9g, fibre 3g, sugar 5g, salt 0.71 g. With 50g of rice (before cooking) and a spoonful of soya yogurt and mango chutney you’re looking at 451 kcal.

Ingredients:

WHATWHENHOW:

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the onion and squash.Fry over a low heat for 5 mins until the squash starts to soften.

Add the aubergine and mushrooms, then cook for a few more mins.

Stir in the curry paste

then pour over the stock and coconut milk. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 mins or until the squash is tender.

Add the spinach if you have it (I didn’t this time :( ), wilt. Then serve with Perfect Rice, either stir through or sprinkle with the coriander and add a dollop of soya yogurt and mango chutney on the side. Mmm.