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.