In my continuing quest for interesting vegetarian cookery I made this thing last night.
It was really good, I recommend it. If you were doing a vegetarian-only spread, this would work well alongside some kind of fresh and zingy slaw or cucumber and chilli salad as the squash is quite rich and sticky.
Very good in large quantities for any big crowd you’ve got coming. The whole thing can be done in advance and then assembled at the last minute. Best of all, you don’t have to peel the bastard squash, which is always a low point for me in any week.
From Plenty More by Yotam Ottolenghi
1 butternut squash
1 tsp ground cinnamon
olive oil
bunch coriander
1 small garlic clove
large handful pumpkin seeds
3 tablespoons yoghurt
some sriracha
salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 200C
1 Cut the squash in half lengthways and chuck out the seeds. Then cut into 2cm-wide slices. Leave the skin on!!!!
2 Toss the squash in a bowl with some glugs of olive oil and the ground cinnamon and a good grind of pepper, then lay out on a baking sheet and put in the oven for about 35 min. This is now ready – you can leave it to cool in whatever bowl you are going to ultimately present this in.
3 Turn the oven down to 160C and put a tray of pumpkin seeds in for 6 minutes until they are cracked and popped and puffy. These are delicious and worth doing, just in case you were thinking about not bothering.
4 Put the coriander, more olive oil, a big pinch of salt and the small garlic clove into a food processor and whizz until you’ve got a fragrant herby oil.
5 Swirl together the sriracha and yoghurt
Assemble by dropping blobs of the yoghurt over the squash, then the herb oil and then scatter the pumpkin seeds on last.
I also made a cucumber and broccoli salad thing from Anna Jones, but it was less successful so let’s just pretend I didn’t.
There is a (vaguely) similar recipe in Persiana which I would hugely recommend… roasted squash (no peeling) with a kind of herby pistachio-ey pesto, feta and pomegranate seeds. Really delicious, really easy and good for a crowd.
Loving the recipes on the blog, Esther x
I was going to rec that too Rosy. Lots of the veg recipes in Persiana and Scirocco are really simple and delicious.
I am imagining this would be ok if I substituted another herb (say basil) for the bastard coriander? Any other suggestions people?
yes I reckon so. or blitz basil, parsley and mint together. that’s always delicious.
Love love love Plenty. Can also highly recommend Hugh Fearnley Whittenstall’s Veg Every Day and Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book as outstanding sources of terrific ideas, with the latter so delightful that it was even chosen on R4’s A Good Read.
You’ve been hoodwinked, Esther. There’s no way that’a an Ottolenghi recipe: the ingredient list is far too short and they are all easily procured. (I *love* his food but refuse to cook it because because it’s all so bloody faff-y.)
ha ha! no no seriously.. I mostly picked this because it’s straightforward xx
I am a fan of Ottolenghi too and have several favourites from the Plenty More book.
Aubergine Cheesecake – I use Wensleydale instead of Feta and I miss out the Za’atar (at least I will continue to do until I find the tin I bought some months ago).
Baked Orzo with Mozzarella and Oregano is a winner and also
Tagliatelle with Walnuts and Lemon.
These aren’t too faf-fy if you like cooking but for everyday straight forward veg meals I think there are some good things in Sam Stern’s Eat Vegetarian.
I get the veggie Hello Fresh box every week and have done for about 6 months. They have gone a bit off the boil of late but this is the best thing I have made from it
https://ddw4dkk7s1lkt.cloudfront.net/card/coconut-dal-with-roasted-buttern-5889a7f514d0f148522c7eb1-ed31247b.pdf
Well worth it even if you hate prepping squash (I do too, in fact I gace myself a ganglion cyst doing so!)
Let me know what you think it lf you like it as I can point you in the direction of more of my faves x
omg! giles has got a ganglion cyst!
I made this tonight – it was excellent, thanks for the tip. And I also roasted the butternut squash’s seeds with oil and salt. So good. Mmmm…