A wonderful welcome to Autumn. Individual squashes stuffed with cheesy, creamy chard and shallots, and a last remnant of summer with a courgette salad. The stuffed squash was like an mini cheese fondue, but with a wonderfully edible pot!
This is based on a great Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe, originally stuffed with leeks. However, this summer marked my first attempt at 'growing my own' - simple things like salad leaves, chard, spinach, chillis and herbs. Some were a disaster (the mustard that ran to seed almost immediately when we had those baking few weeks, or the carrots that have yet to do anything due to the deluge of rain the past few fortnight or so!) but some were a great success - the rocket and salad leaves certainly had a good go despite the climate, but the real winner was chard (hence why I have lots of it in October!).
Squash stuffed with chard
Serves 6
Prep time: 30 mins (I seriously underestimated how long it would take to prepare and deseed the squash)
Cooking time: 50mins - 1 hour, depending on the size and type of squash
6 smallish squash (I found mine at the local farmers market, a mix of colours and types looks great as well - each one is an individual main portion - but they are rather filling!)
50g butter
2 big bunches of chard, leaves and stalks roughly chopped into largeish bits
3-5 shallots (depending on their size) sliced
1-2 tsps English mustard (well I used Dijon, add to taste)
300ml creme fraiche
200g gruyere / mature cheddar / a mixture of the two (I used about 150g gruyere + 50g mature cheddar) finely grated
thyme sprigs
sea salt + black pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 190oC. Heat the butter in a medium saucepan and add the shallots, cover and sweat for about 10 mins on a low heat until soft. Add the chard, and cook until the leaves are wilted and the stalks start to soften. Remove from the heat, and add the creme fraiche, mustard and cheese. Season well with black pepper and sea salt.
2. Cut a 'lid' from the top of the squash - I did this by plunging the large sharp knife into the top, moving round and forming a rough circle. The lid should pop off with a little persuasion from the knife. Cut off any seeds from the lid, and de-seed the squash. Then pop the lid back on and pop the squash on a large baking tray (it should be big enough to hold all the squash and allow air to circulate around them). Repeat for all the squash (now you see why it takes so long!)
3. Make sure that the squash sit flat on the baking tray - if not just slice a little off the base. Fill the empty squash with the creamy, chardy mixture, but don't fill them up (about two thirds or so is fine). Tuck in a few sprigs of thyme and replace the lid. They need to bake for around 50-60 mins, depending on their size and squash type - I found orange ones needed the least time, followed by the fully green ones. The acorn squash needed about 10 minutes more. To test when they are cooked, poke a knife into the sides of the squash (not too deep or else you'll have a cheesy haemorrhage!).
4. Serve straight away - but beware, the filling is VERY hot!
Courgette and Green Bean Salad
Yes, it was the beginning of October, but the clocks hadn't gone back yet and we were all still pretending it's summer - putting off getting out that warm coat, delaying turning on the heating and still enjoying the end of summer produce. However, the fact I couldn't get courgettes or green beans at the farmers market meant they were out of season, so this salad would be wonderful when they are!
Serves 6
Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
For the dressing
1 small garlic clove, crushed with a little sea salt
3 tablespoons of tahini (I found some in a squeezy plastic bottle, so used a little more)
finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon (I actually just used juice from a bottle)
juice of 1/2 an orange (which again, I didn't have!)
1 tsp clear honey
3 tbsps good olive oil
sea salt + black pepper
For the salad
3 tbsps olive oil
4 medium courgettes. sliced into 5 mm rounds
juice of 1 lemon (ok, again it was from a bottle)
1 red chilli (I used my own homegrown one, which was very small but rather hot) finely chopped, remove the seeds if you have a delicate tongue (I didn't)
150g or so French beans
6 good handfuls of salad leaves (I used rocket, spinach and small mizuna greens)
12 semi dried tomatoes (from a jar, or you could make your own)
a handful of fresh mint, chopped
1.To make the dressing, in a small bowl add all the ingredients except the olive oil and stir well together (if it's quite thick, add a little water to loosen up) you're looking for a creamy consistency. Gently stir in the olive oil, and add a little more salt or pepper if required.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large, non-stick frying pan (or griddle pan) and fry the courgettes in batches (this takes a while!) until golden brown on each side. Set aside in a large salad bowl, and add the lemon juice, chilli and a little salt + pepper, and toss together.
3. Meanwhile, trim the French beans and bring a pan of salted water to the boil. Plunge into the bubbling water for 1 minute, before removing and dunking in cold water (I just put mine under a cold tap in the sieve, same thing really). Pat dry and toss with the courgettes.
4. Assemble the salad - spread the salad leaves on a large dish, and scatter over the dressed courgettes and beans, tomatoes and fresh mint. Trickle over the tahini dressing generously. (I didn't have another dish, so i just added the salad leaves, tomatoes and mint to the courgettes + beans, and tossed with the tahini dressing).
J x
