BAKED BUTTERNUT SQUASH!

Tasty Butternut squash baked with Bolognaise and cheese!

Well this was a surprise!

Mum was looking for late-season courgettes (which we all know are actually marrows) to make some tasty stuffed marrow for dinner. Stuffed marrow has been a family staple in autumn for years and although it's a comforting and healthy way to stretch a bit of fresh or frozen Bolognaise, it isn't always completely successful. The problem being the marrow. It is very watery and it needs cooking first before the cooked seeds are mixed with the meaty mixture and it's all assembled to go back in the oven. We normally solve the wateryness issue by serving it with brown rice. It absorbs the juices nicely and makes a very economical and tasty dinner. But there's no getting away from the fact that stuffed marrow, at least the way we do it, is runny.

We were talking about a new way of doing the marrow wrapped tightly in foil instead of our normal way of doing rings layered in a baking dish. It might help and is worth a try but honestly I think it would be just the same watery business.

Squash to the rescue!

But there weren't any big courgettes/marrows in Sainsbury's so we were a bit stuck. Stuck and standing next to the truck load of Butternut squash that supermarkets always seem to have on sale. They sell for about £1 per kilo and a nice big squash is about 1500g so I reckon you should be able to buy one of these things for about £1.50 max. And it will feed two people really well with peas or beans.

Inspiration! And what a good result we had with it this evening! Really tasty. The squash cooks really well and becomes super-soft and mash-like but with that nice swedey/marrowy flavour and the meaty mixture melts in as it cooks really deliciously too. With grated cheese nicely browned on top. We definitely are on to something here.

And it is dead easy! Especially if, like our family, you always have frozen Bolognaise easily to hand. The cooking is in two parts. First bake the squash and then add the mixture, cover in cheese and bake again. All together it takes about an hour and a half which is quite a long time but it is definitely worth planning ahead for.

Pre-heat the oven to 175C.

1 x Large Butternut Squash about 1500g
1 x Container frozen Bolognaise (or fresh is fine. Just freeze the rest as normal)
Cheddar for grating.

Ok, there is a safety issue here because the first thing you have to do is cut the squash in half lengthways and that is not easy. The temptation is to use a big knife because the squash is big but actually a small knife works better. Don't try and cut through it in one go. Instead cut round it like you would do an avocado. It works better that way because you can actually cut it into two halves instead of wildly slicing off uneven bits. In any case be careful as this demands definite care and remember - It Is A Long Way To The Lister.

Squash baked and stuffed ready to go back in the oven

Scoop out the seeds and place cut side down on a bit of foil. It's best to put this into a baking tin or similar because it does release a bit of liquid during cooking.

Put the squash into your pre-heated oven for 60 minutes. While the squash is baking, microwave your bolognaise. It is going to cook in the oven but it needs to be de-frosted otherwise it will be comically difficult to use the mixture to stuff the squash. Also why not get your frozen peas ready too? (Two handy household hints there).

After an hour the squash will be soft and scoopable. Turn them over in the tray, make a channel down the middle and spoon the meat mixture in. Grate cheese all over the top and put back in the oven for 20-30 minutes until the cheese is nicely browned and everything is hot through.

Done. Just add peas/sweetcorn/carrots all tasty!

That's it. Put them on warmed plates with the cooked peas or carrots or beans. Actually that reminds me, in native American cultures where squashes were first farmed for food they are normally served with sweetcorn and butter as a vegetable dinner of great tastiness. I saw this in Argentina but didn't get to try it which I regret now.

I can't resist telling you about the original American Indian subsistance farming method that was done for centuries before Columbus and his peers messed it all up for them. Each family would have a small patch of land and heap up the earth into a rounded hummock (Hummock: hillock, hump, mound, knoll, tump, prominence,  dune, barrow - Yes it's a real word).

On their hummock they would grow squashes which are ground level, and sweetcorn which of course grow on huge long stems. In between the squash plants they would grow beans and train them to grow up the sweetcorn stalks. Thereby making amazing good use of the space and providing three of their staples: Squash, Corn and Beans. And many recipes survive that use these three, most notably 'Succotash' which is a vegetable stew. 

The Indian families also carefully kept chickens on unused hummocks to rotate the land. The chickens were fed on spare corn kernels and fertilised the ground ready for next year's crop. I think that is one brilliant system.