Roasted Butternut Squash with Goat's Cheese

This sounds like one of my fancier recipes but honestly it's really easy. The hardest bit is probably cutting the bloody squash in half - get a sharp knife!

Obviously this is not part of Vegan MoFo, if you want you can always omit the goat's cheese but I'm not sure how well the other flavours would work by themself - play around with it or just look for a new recipe entirely if you don't want the goat's cheese. 

Makes 2 portions as a main dish or could be divided up to serve more.

Ingredients:

Squash and filling:

1 butternut squash

3 tbsp butter/margarine

2 medium chopped onions

1 large clove of crushed garlic

Small piece of grated fresh ginger

Pinch of cinnamon, cumin seeds, and paprika

200g tinned chopped tomatoes (1/2 a regular can or carton)

150g lentils (I used brown, I reckon it’d work with green or puy but probably not red as they turn into a mush quickly)

75g goats cheese (the crumbly kind)

For the breadcrumbs:

1-2 slices of stale (not mouldy!) bread

Pinch of sage and rosemary

A few bits of goats cheese (10g?)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.
2. Using a very sharp knife chop the butternut squash in half lengthways. Position side by side in a deep baking pan, cut sides up, and brush with 1 ½ tbsp butter and salt and pepper to taste. Roast in oven for 1 hour. 

  

3. Meanwhile (probably about 35-40mins after the squash has gone in the oven) start preparing the filling by boiling the lentils in one pan and heating the remaining butter in another on medium heat. When melted and hot, add the chopped onions to the butter pan and gently fry for approx. 5 mins before adding the garlic and cumin seeds and frying for a further 1, stirring regularly. Then stir in the ginger, cinnamon, and paprika and fry briefly before mixing in the tomatoes and drained lentils. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. While the filling is simmering prepare the breadcrumbs by tearing up the bread and mixing in a food processor along with the herbs and a bit of goat's cheese. 

5. Take the squash out the oven after 1 hour. Thickly spread on the filling, crumble on the rest of the goats cheese, and cover with breadcrumbs. Return to oven for 10-15 minutes to bake. 

 

Apologies for the messyness around the photos! I was making chocolate for the first time alongside this and the whole kitchen got pretty dirty.