Autumn is the season of squash.
This is an early post I found on a mining the past exercise last week.
I cooked it again and the recipe didn’t disappoint–in fact we finished the lot as we’d done way back in February 2011.
Butternut squashes dress modestly in light fawn leaving their showier cousins in orange and red to hog the limelight around this time of year–Halloween and Toussaint.
Under the skin though they show their true colors.
A wonderful autumn glow emerges, mustardy yellow–warming heart and body–as in the soup below (recipe here).
“What’s on the menu today?”
“Gratin of one of us”
“Scary–after you, ClaudeI”
This is delicious–I’ll stick my neck out.
We had it with some seasoned quinoa (sautéed onion, garlic, a small chili and a little steamed broccoli) last night for dinner and finished the lot.
The recipe is adapted from one in The New York Times*, which in turn was adapted from a recipe in a cookbook by a legendary American food writer**, who most likely adapted it from something he ate in a restaurant in Provence***, which was probably invented by the grandmother of the restaurant owner****–who had passed it on to her daughter*****.
In other words it’s a version of a traditional seasonal gratin dish.
It can be eaten as a vegetarian main course as we did last night or as an accompaniment to a roast chicken or lamb chops–for instance.
for 4
1kilo/2 lbs of butternut squash–peeled, deseeded and cut into small chunks
4 cloves of garlic–peeled and chopped small
1 generous tablespoon of wholewheat breadcrumbs
1 generous tablespoon of parsley--chopped
1 tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons of olive oil
set the oven to 190C/375F
Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and turn them over and over mixing them thoroughly together and remembering to season well with the salt and pepper.
Tip into a roasting tray or better still an earthenware ovenproof dish.
Roast in the middle of the oven, for about an hour and a half–(the time depends on the size of the chunks)–so it comes out nicely charred on top.
* Martha Rose Shulman
** Richard Olney–author of Simple French Food
***, ****, ***** All three names lost in the mists of time!
Robin Ellis 