Autumn squash

By coincidence I had two delicious butternut squash dishes last weekend, and I thought I would share them with you. Squashes and pumpkins are in season at the moment – get English ones if you can. You could use a different sweet orange-fleshed squash such as acorn squash if you prefer.

The first of these was cooked by my friend Paul at a housewarming party. It was warming, aromatic, extremely tasty and not too much trouble to cook. I think it came from a BBC Good Food cookbook. This is my approximation based on memory rather than an exact recipe.

The second was in the cafe at the Whitechapel art gallery. It was a substantial salad of roasted squash, toasted flatbread, watercress and feta. (The gallery cafe also does tasty-looking cakes, and has some good recipes on its website. There is also a fairly smart restaurant with Angela Hartnett as executive chef). Squash and feta is a great combination – it’s that sweet/ salty thing. Again this is my approximation of it rather than the exact recipe.

(Sorry  I haven't got pictures of the actual dishes, but here are some lovely squashes and pumpkins I saw at the weekend instead.)

Butternut squash and butter bean stew

1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped
1 tin butter beans, drained
Good pinch chilli flakes
1 tin coconut milk
About 275ml/ half a pint vegetable stock (you can use a cube)
Zest of one lime
A handful fresh coriander
Chopped cashew nuts

Cook the onion in the oil until softened. Add the squash and cook, stirring, for five minutes. Add the stock, coconut milk and chilli and cook for 20 minutes or until the squash is soft. Add the butter beans, lime zest and half the coriander and cook for another five minutes. Scatter over the cashew nuts and the rest of the coriander just before serving. Serve with rice.

Butternut squash, feta and flatbread salad

1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
1 bunch or small bag watercress, washed
One or two flatbreads eg Moroccan flatbread, or use pitta if that is what you can find
150-200g feta

Roast the squash in 1 tbsp oil at gas mark 5 / 375F / 190C for half an hour or until soft and slightly charred at the edges. While this is happening, toast the flatbread for about a minute on each side or until crisp but not too browned. Allow to cool so you can handle them, and then cut the flatbreads into small pieces – triangles look best. Mix the squash with the flatbread pieces, the watercress and feta. Add the oil and some black pepper (you can add salt if you feel it needs it, though bear in mind that the feta is salty). Serve warm or at room temperature.

If you have any favourite squash or pumpkin recipes, let me know using the comments.