Stuffed Butternut Squash

I always seem to make butternut squash into a soup with ginger and coconut or I roast it and mix it into a risotto, I never stuff it. I realised I had accidentally bought another pack of Feta cheese by mistake whilst already having a pack in the fridge and so thought a stuffed butternut squash with feta was in order.

One butternut squash
Large Red Chili
Garlic
Pack of Feta cubed
One courgette
Field Mushroom
Yellow or Red Pepper
Onion
Thick bacon (optional)
Salt & Pepper
Olive Oil
Salad to Serve

I started by slicing my butternut in half, chopping a chill and crushing some garlic which I spread on top and then drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled some salt.

I also chopped my veg and tossed in some olive oil and let that gently roast in the oven on a lower shelf and around 10mins  before it was due to come out I added my chopped field mushroom.

Near the end of the cooking time, I grilled my bacon and added that to the veg. I scooped out the flesh from the butternut squashes and mixed everything together including the feta and then put them back in the oven for around 15mins.

In an ideal world I would have sprinkled the top with Parmesan and breadcrumbs but I had neither so had to do without.

I ate it with salad and it was very filling, a great mid-week yummy dinner.

Butternut Squash Macaroni Cheese

Macaroni cheese is one of my all time favourite things to eat when I'm hungover, sad or cold and today I'm cold and slightly hungover so macaroni cheese it is but with a bit of a difference from my normal recipe. I added some roasted butternut squash puree and crispy bacon to the normal cheese sauce and oh my it worked a treat. I thought it would be a bit sweet and I was right it was so adding the crispy bacon and lot's of mature cheddar and Parmesan gave the dish a savoury depth which I think it needed but that's my opinion and everyone has different tastes so leave the bacon out if you want.

Half a large butternut squash
Macaroni
4 rashers of Bacon
Mature cheddar Cheese
Milk
Parmesan
Flour
Butter
Nutmeg
Bread Crumbs




First I roasted my butternut squash in a bit of olive oil for about 45mins.


I then blitzed the butternut into a puree with a drop of milk and put the bacon under the grill and the macaroni on to boil.


I made a roux with flour and butter and slowly added milk a little at time to make a white sauce


I then mixed the butternut puree, mature cheddar, nutmeg and pepper into the white sauce


Then I added the cooked smoky bacon to the sauce


Mix the cooked macaroni with the sauce


Cover with breadcrumbs, grated cheese and Parmesan


I cooked it in the oven for around half an hours on the middle shelf on gas mark 6





It was a bit different to normal macaroni cheese and you can pretend it's 'healthy' because of the butternut squash in it........

Roasted Butternut Squash, Garlic and smoky Bacon Risotto

Store cupboard meals can sometimes be the best kind and this is exactly what this turned out to be. My fridge was looking rather bare but I did have some smoked bacon a large butternut squash and a Parmesan rind with a thick layer of Parmesan still on it perfect for just throwing in the risotto and letting it work it's cheesy magic! I didn't have wine so just used chicken stock and it was perfectly fine.

Risotto Rice
Butternut squash
6 cloves of Garlic
6 Rashers of Smokey Bacon
Parmesan cheese/Rind
1 Large Onion diced
Olive Oil
Knob of Butter
Salt and Pepper




I started by chopping my onion up and gently frying in butter and olive oil. I also chopped up my butternut squash and tossed It in a roasting tin with garlic and olive oil. I keep the garlic in there skins to stop them burning and so I can squish them out of there skins later







After frying the onions I add the risotto rice to the pan and take the cloves of garlic out of the over to add to it.




I cooked my bacon under the grill because I like it crispy, I saved the crispiest bits to go on the top!


My boyfriend isn't keen on chunks of butternut squash so it was scraped from the skin when it had been roasted and was mixed in to the risotto, fussy boy.


That's my lonely cucumber in the background, I had no other salad items to go with it.........

Butternut Squash, Ginger and Coconut Soup

What a lovely mini Summer we just had but now we are back to what October should be like and I'm glad! Cold and windy with leaves falling off the tree's and crunching underfoot which always puts me in the mood for soup and what could be more autumnal than a big bowl of golden butternut squash soup with the addition of creamy coconut milk, fiery chilli's and warming ginger. I am another of those weirdo's who actually prefer the Autumn and Winter months to the summer.
I love all the food the colder months bring especially Autumn with all those gorgeous vegetables and I can't deny that Christmas is my favourite thing in all the world but enough about that (for now)...

Butternut Squash
Tin of Coconut Milk
2 small Red Chilli's with seeds
Knob of Ginger Grated
1 Diced Onion
Chicken Stock
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper


Peel and chop your butternut squash




Saute your onion, chili and ginger in a pan with a glug of oil


Add the butternut squash and cook for around five min's


Next add the coconut milk, chicken stock and leave to cook until the squash is tender


Blend the soup, season to taste and it's ready to eat, yum indeed.
I have to say this is a very rich and gently warming soup and I think it stands up really well on it's own and you don't need bread but of course you can do whatever you want and have tons of bread of bread with it but don't blame me if you feel sick after....

What ever is in the fridge soup or just 'Fridge Soup'

I really wanted to make a slow cooked beef, tomato and spinach curry for mine and Mercer's dinner tonight and so I went to the shop's to get all the bit's that I needed and came back home and put it all away only to get a phone call from Mercer explaining that he would be staying out with friends until,late so not to worry about dinner. Well to be honest I was slightly annoyed and may have huffed, puffed and stamped my feet a little as there was no way I wanted to cook a curry just for me. Don't get me wrong though as I will cook extravagantly for myself when ever the fancy takes me, but I really wanted to enjoy this with another person!
So instead I searched the fridge to see what i could find and I pulled out several large carrot's, a couple of small potato's, half a butternut squash, a large red onion , fresh ginger and some roast chicken left from Sundays lunch and I thought the most logical thing to do was make it into soup which is exactly what i did by sweating all the veg and ginger in butter, olive oil, turmeric, garam masala and cumin seeds for about 5 Min's and then added vegetable bouillon and simmered until the potato's were cooked, blended it all before returning it to the pan and putting shredded chicken in and the topping with coriander and pumpkin seeds!!! In the end I was glad Mercer stayed out because it was one of the best soups I have made and I am rather fabulous at making soup!

Chicken stock and spicy soup.

After yesterdays heart warming and stomach filling roast chicken I am definitely in the mood for something lighter and have decided to make a nourishing soup with the chicken carcass and whatever I have left in the fridge which generally turns out rather well. I took off all the remaining meat from the bird which will be used in sandwiches, pasta or perhaps even a pie filling during the week and then placed the carcass in a large pot of boiling water with carrots, onions, leeks, bay leaves and peppercorns, usually I would put some fresh herbs in to but had none to hand so I make do without. I made my stock at lunchtime so it would have a few hours to simmer down and reduce to get every last scrap of delicious chicken flavour out of those bones, skimming the fat and scum off the top as I went.
After having a rummage in the fridge I have come up with a butternut squash, carrots, parsnips and ginger which seems a perfect combination for a fabulous soup, especially as I have that gorgeous savour stock waiting to be used in it. I decided to roast my butternut squash and parsnips and while they baked I sweated onions, garlic, carrots and ginger in olive oil and decided to raid my spice cupboard and decided to add garam masala, cumin seeds, start anise and a Cinnamon stick for a spicy depth and warmth.
When the squash was ready I scooped out the sticky fleshy middle and added it to my pan before pouring over my stock and then hand blending and seasoning with cracked pepper and a bit of creme fraiché... delicious.