Stuffed roast squash

Oh go on then, as I'm here, another quick one.

This was a road-test for the veggie option at our upcoming Christmas dinner with friends. It's adapted from a recipe I saw in a magazine. It was very festive and yummy. I'm tagging it as vegan although the version we ate wasn't, because the adapted version I make next time probably will be. It'll make sense when you've read it.

WHAT WE ATE

Roast squash stuffed with mushrooms, apples and cashew nuts, with roast potatoes and broccoli on the side. Here it is:



WHAT WE DID

You want one of those round-ish squashes that is sort of like a mini-pumpkin, except usually more colourful. Not sure a butternut squash would quite work in this context. One squash per person makes a fairly filling meal.

1. Slice the top off the squash and scoop the seeds and blurghy bits out the middle. Stick it in a roasting tray.
2. Slice a couple of handfuls of mushrooms, chop a small onion or leek, and chop an apple into chunks (I wedged them and then halved the wedges to make sure they'd fit into the top of the squash). Fry them in oil for 5 minutes or so, and add the cashews (no need to chop them or anything).
3. At this point I basically added a bit of a white sauce - ie, I added a spoon or two of plain flour, then added some milk a bit at a time (not very much, you don't want it too saucy or it all oozes out of the squash), and some seasoning and mixed herbs. However, I'm thinking it would actually be nicer with a white wine sauce, so next time I'm going to replace the milk with white wine, and give it a bit longer on the hob for some of the alcohol to evaporate off. This would make it vegan, assuming I suppose that you are either using vegan wine or aren't that fussy.
4. Spoon the mixture into the squash and replace the squash lid. Pop the whole thing in the oven for an hour on about 180C.

I've probably made this sound more complicated than it is, it is actually dead, dead easy - prep time around 15-20 minutes. And obviously you could stuff the squash with basically anything you like. This recipe really appeals to me as a way to make squash easy: I love squash, but am usually too lazy to use it, as anything that involves peeling or chopping it usually results in frustration and chopped fingers. The beauty of this is that you can just bung the whole thing in the oven and then scoop the flesh out as you eat. It looks great on the plate too.

Cauliflower macaroni cheese

Well, predictions that we would be too busy/lazy to update this blog proved accurate. But there's always new years resolutions...

In the meantime, thought I would share a small revelation I had today.  I bought some cauliflower from the farmers' market, and my thought process went something like this:

1. Cauliflower cheese is nice.
2. But it's not quite a meal.
3. If only cauliflower cheese could be somehow more... carby.
4. Macaroni cheese is nice.
5. Maybe we should have cauliflower cheese and macaroni cheese AT THE SAME TIME!
6. How come nobody ever does this?

So, I made it, and lo, it was pretty tasty. It's probably pretty self explanatory and I don't wish to patronise, but for completeness:

WHAT I USED

One cauliflower; three small leeks; the macaroni i had left in the packet (around 150g, maybe?); some peas; a decent-sized block of mature cheddar, maybe around 5cm by 10cm; a pint of milk; 2 tbsp flour, a knob of butter, nutmeg, thyme, salt, pepper

WHAT I DID

1. Cut the cauliflower into florets and boiled for around 5 mins. Chopped the leeks but didn't pre-cook them.
2. Meanwhile, made the cheese sauce: melt the butter, stir in the flour, add the milk a little at a time with lots and lots of whisking to get rid of lumps; keep whisking/stirring over the heat for 5 mins or until it thickens, shaking in some frozen peas a few minutes before the end; take off the heat and grate in most of the cheese. (I added a bit of grated nutmeg, a decent shake of dried thyme and some salt/pepper as well.)
3. Drained the cauliflower and left it standing in the colander while I did the macaroni in the same saucepan (hooray for less washing up)
4. Mixed the pasta, cauliflower and leeks in a big shallow oven-proof dish, then poured the cheese sauce on top.
5. Sprinkled some extra grated cheese on top and baked at around 200C for 15-20 mins.

Mark and I have both been a bit ill today and I can confirm that this makes excellent comfort food. Also prep time was probably less than half an hour. Seriously, why have I never seen anyone combine these two things before? You know it makes sense.