Well hello! 19.01.21

Hello!

Thanks for joining me on this little blog! Every Tuesday when I come back from my prep days I'm going to update this with a bit of background on this weeks menu and even a short recipe on one element of one of the dishes for this week!

I've wanted to make this for so long and seeing as I managed to get quite a few butternut squash I thought I would make a ....

Roasted butternut squash, fennel and herb sauce!

Now - when you read on from this some may think 'Is this a soup or a sauce?' and I say 'Why can't it be a sauce and also soup?'

This gives it a bit of versitility to be able to make in bulk for quite a few dishes throughout the week! I will also put my hints and tips underneath the recipe.

Roasted butternut squash, fennel and herb sauce

You will need

  • 1 medium butternut squash

  • 2 cloves of garlic

  • 1 red onion

  • Herbs of your choice (I went for sage and thyme, you could also use dried mix herbs)

  • 2tsp of fennel seeds

  • A drizzle of oil (I prefer olive oil but any neutral tasting oil e.g. rapeseed)

  • 500ml Vegetable OR Chicken stock

  • Salt and pepper to taste

  • Baking tray

  • Blender

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees (gas mark 6)

  2. Top and tail your butternut squash, slice in half lengtways, scoop the seeds out and dice into roughly 1cm cubes. You could at this stage save the seeds from inside your squash to roast separately as a snack or lovely crunchy topping! Place your diced butternut squash onto a baking tray.

  3. Peel the skin off your onion and garlic. Quarter your onion and place onto the baking tray with your cloves of garlic, roughly 2 tablespoons of chopped herbs of your choice and the fennel seeds.

  4. Drizzle your oil over your squash mix, along with a pinch of salt and pepper, on the baking tray and place in your pre-heated oven. Check your oven every 10 minutes and roast your squash until soft.

  5. Make up your 500ml of vegetable stock and place 250ml of your stock into a blender.

  6. Blend 2/3rds of your roast squash in stages so it blends easily and makes a lovely smooth sauce. You may need to add more vegetable stock depending on how thick you want your sauce. Save 1/3rd for garnish.

  7. If you are using this for a pasta sauce cook up your pasta according to packet instructions, once cooked coat your pasta in your squash sauce and serve with your remaining roasted squash on top!

  8. If you have any sauce left, add some double cream to make a hearty soup for a quick lunch!

OR

  1. Why not make this a base for a curry? Marinate your protein of choice in curry powder for at least 1 hour. Once marinated, fry this off in a pan with some sliced onions, garlic, chilli and ginger. Add some of your butternut squash sauce and a tin of coconut milk and cook until desired consistency. Serve with your usual curry sides!

I hope you enjoy! Let me know if you make

this or use this for any other recipes!

Tia