A naturally sweet and smoky dish that can be a vegan or vegetarian meal on its own, or a seasonal side dish to your choice of protein - I'll pan fry lamb chops, steam some broccoli and crumble some feta cheese over the top of the squash at the end.
N.B. Fresh dill and lemon zest are marked as optional - but include them if you can, they bring a fantastic extra layer of flavour.
What you'll need
Enough for however many you're feeding, I cook for 2.
Fresh ingredients
- Butternut squash, 1 whole seeds removed sliced lengthways
- Fresh dill, optional
Everyday basics
- Tin of tomatoes
- Garlic, 1-2 crushed cloves
- Onion, 1 sliced
- Feta cheese, optional
- Lemon zest, optional
Store cupboard
- Harissa paste, 1-2 tbsp
- Smoked paprika, ½-1 tsp
- Bay leaves, about 6 if you have them
- Olive oil, 1 tsbp
- Salt & pepper, to taste
What to do
- Pre-heat the oven 200 fan. Wash, deseed and 'hasselback' the squash, see the image below for how to do this. I found slicing the squash into 1cm slices first then slicing those in half easiest. Alternatively just cut lengthways into slices or chunks, it will still taste great!
- In a bowl, or directly into the ovenproof baking dish you're going to cook in, add a tin of tomatoes, a tbsp or 2 of Harissa paste, 1-2 crushed garlic cloves, ½ or 1 tsp of smoked paprika and a little olive oil. Mix well, this is your sauce base. Thickly slice the onion into rounds and place on top of the sauce, these will act as a trivet to the hasselback squash halves. Rub some olive oil, salt and pepper on to the squash. Snap a couple of bay leaves in half and slot them into the gaps (see image below).
- Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes, after which you can remove the foil, glaze the squash with a teaspoon of honey if using and bake for a further 30 mins or until the squash is cooked through.
- If you're using the extras, now's the time to top with some feta/dill/lemon zest or all 3!
- Serve with your choice of protein, and a side of greens.
Sauce ingredients
Hasselback the squash
Ready to bake
