No fish or meat? Rustle up a veggie treat | Lawrence Murphy

Roast butternut squash with chilli-spiced fennel
Roast Butternut squash with chilli-spiced fennelRoast Butternut squash with chilli-spiced fennel
Roast Butternut squash with chilli-spiced fennel

A couple of times lately, I’ve opened the fridge to find I’ve forgotten to buy meat or fish.

But we like vegetarian and vegan food and it isn’t difficult to turn a butternut squash into something tasty and filling.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

If you don’t have a squash, try a couple of baking potatoes, celeriac, or sweet potato.

The addition of chillies and fennel seed give a fantastic flavour with the garlic leaf – which can be substituted with spinach.

Ingredients – serves 4

4 thick rounds cut from the top of a butternut squash

2 onions, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 fennel bulbs, finely chopped

2 red chillies

Tsp fennel seed

Tsp cumin seed

Tsp tomato paste

Tbsp shelled pistachio nuts

Small bunch wild garlic

Olive oil

Method

1. Peel the skin from the rounds of butternut squash and rub them with olive oil.

2. Place them on a baking tray and cook in a preheated oven 180C gas 5 for about 35 mins. A knife will go into the flesh easily when cooked.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

3. Pound the chilli and cumin seeds in a pestle and mortar and add 60ml of olive oil.

4, Gently fry the onion, garlic, fennel and pistachio, in a saucepan for 5 mins on a low heat without colouring.

5. Add the chilli and seed paste with the tomato paste and cook for another 2mins.

6. Add the leaf and stir in. Taste and season.

7. Put the squash onto plates and top with the fennel and wild garlic. Serve with cucumber, minted yoghurt and bulgur wheat.