Squash Stuffed with Leeks

A weekend recipe to try:

This recipe is from the "River Cottage Veg Everyday" book by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Mark and I watched a lot of his River Cottage series when it was on TV, and found it fascinating all the tasty things he created just using vegetables.

It isn't a vegetarian cookbook, although none of the recipes include meat or fish, and isn't written by a vegetarian- it's more about making people appreciate vegetables than trying to stop them eating meat. Hugh's main argument is that vegetables are the foods that do us the most good, and our planet the least harm. However, it also raises the important point that we cling to meat as the centre of any meal and feel that a dish is incomplete without it. A change in attitude to appreciating vegetables as main courses in their own right is definitely something I agree with, and I was excited to get creative and try this amazing recipe.

The recipe is laid out in Hugh's book, this is just a summarised version!

You will need:

Squash (one each for each person, or 1 between 2 if they're large like butternut squash!)
Leeks (we used 1 for 2 people as our squash were quite small)
Thyme
Crème fraiche
Wholegrain mustard
Gruyère cheese

1. Cut the tops off your squash and scoop out the seeds.

Keep the tops to act as lids!

2. Then cut your leeks into slices and cook in some butter until soft.

3. Grate your Gruyère cheese (you could use other cheese instead- I think parmesan would be nice and might add a stronger flavour).

4. Take the leeks off the heat and stir in the crème fraiche, wholegrain mustard and cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Fill the squash with the leek mixture (ours were a little stuffed!)

Tuck a few thyme sprigs in the top.

6. Then cook for 50-60 minutes in the oven (190degreesC) until the squash is very soft. Serve straight away!

I think we needed to cook ours for a bit longer (our oven is rubbish!) but they were still tasty.

As I said, I might try a stronger cheese next time or something else cooked with the leeks for a bit more flavour. Squash itself can be quite a bland vegetable so requires a strong taste paired with it. The wholegrain mustard worked well...