A very easy recipe inspired by the tv series River Cottage Treatment (we’re big Hugh FW fans!). It was originally made with butternut pumpkin (squash), feta cheese and basil, but butternuts were stupidly expensive at the markets last week, so I used a small jap pumpkin instead.
Give the pumpkin a good scrub to clean it, then cut it into quarters and scoop out the seeds. If you’re using butternut, just cut it in half. Put a small pat of butter and a peeled clove of garlic into each quarter, lay them out on a baking tray and bake for about an hour at 190C until tender. You’re supposed to brush them with oil before baking, but I forgot to.
Scoop out the flesh of the pumpkin, leaving a 1cm border to hold the skin together, then mash it with a generous amount of feta cheese and pine nuts. Season well, then spoon the mixture back into the shells and bake them for another 15 minutes. Absolutely delicious and each quarter pumpkin is substantial enough for a meal in itself!
Since I’m not a pinenut fan, I would consider pecans….with some lemon thyme. Looks yummy
Oz, thanks, and I’m sure pecans would work too. The original recipe didn’t have nuts at all, I’m just a big pinenut fan.
Since I’m on BNSquash high, I will try this for sure – with feta, chopped almonds, chili pepper and coriander.
Made a ‘Shepard’s pie for dinner’ – a layer of bolognaise/mince in tomato sauce formed the base, followed by some pan fried courgettes and topped with a mixture of BNS, feta, cumin seeds and almond halves. It was lovely!
Sounds perfect, Oz! That mashed BNS is serving you well… :)
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