Butternut Squash with Spinach and Bacon

I love it when I stumble across a new dish that is liked by all my family.  I have a recipe book stand above my Aga and one of my favorite cook books is Cook up a Feast by Mary Berry. It has been perched on the stand opened on this particular page for a few weeks now, and at last I got around to making it; happy to say it was delicious, and didn’t disappoint!

INGREDIENTS FOR 6 PEOPLE : 

3 x 400g butternut squash, halved lengthways through the stalk and seeds and fibres discarded

2 tbsp olive oil

150ml water

salt and freshly ground black pepper

200g smoked bacon lardons

2 leeks, sliced

250g chestnut mushrooms, quartered

100g baby spinach

100ml double cream

75g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

freshly chopped parsley, to garnish

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 200C. Put the squash cut side up in a large roasting tray, and drizzle over the oil. Pour the water around them, season with salt and pepper and toast in the oven for 45 minutes or until the flesh is soft. Set aside and allow to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, put the lardons into a dry frying pan and stir over a medium heat until the fat comes out. Add the leeks and cook slowly for 10 minutes or until soft. Add the mushrooms and spinach and stir together over a high heat for 10 minutes or until the spinach has wilted and the mushrooms are nearly cooked.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cream, some salt and pepper and half of the cheese. Scoop out some of the cooked squash, leaving 2cm border inside each squash case, and stir into the spinach mixture. Spoon the mixture into the squash cases and sprinkle over the remaining cheese.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden on top and heated through. Garnish with a sprinkle of parsley and serve.

Recipe from Cook Up a Feast by Mary Berry and Lucy Young.

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Sally Lock

I have been writing blogs and features for some years, specialising in recipes and all things related to food. Previously, I wrote for an environmentally friendly garden website, and have been a recipe advisor for Womans Journal. Mother of three and the ultimate multi-tasker, I am also the Creative Director for Silversurfers and manage all our social media too.

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