ROSIE’S SEASONAL STARS
How to use sweet and versatile squash
The swollen sumptuousness of September’s squashes is a consolation prize for the end of summer. As soon as they start to appear in their glorious spectrum of colours and shapes, I’m stocking up. I love to nab some of the really gnarly intertestinglooking ones – initially for decorative purposes and to mark the shift in the season – but they last well, and of course, I’ll end up cooking and eating them eventually.
With so many varieties of gourd out there, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, and while I love the chestnuttiness of red kuri, or the delicacy of gem or spaghetti squash (both great vehicles for shedloads of butter, cheese and black pepper), it’s the dense, sweet richness of crown prince and butternut that I return to again and again. Either of these works beautifully in the recipes I’ve shared here.
If you’re curious, or relatively new to di erent squash varieties, I recommend experimenting with a few kinds to find what you like. If you’re growing your own, save seeds from this year’s harvest to start o next year and share with your friends and family. Of course, you can also enjoy the blossoms, gorgeous stu ed with ricotta, battered and deep-fried, or torn into risottos or pasta dishes.
The following recipes have all been developed using butternut squash whose orange-coloured flesh is sweet and compact, pairing spectacularly well with the woody aroma of fried sage that infuses brown butter for a béchamel in the indulgent pasta bake on page 87, and working brilliantly, too, with savoury sausagemeat, juicy mushrooms and earthy greens.
One of the most famous examples of the heavenly marriage of sage butter and sweet, dense pumpkin is tortelli con zucca, or ravioli di zucca – a filled fresh pasta dish traditionally made in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, using the famous local Mantua pumpkin. Named after the province in which it is grown, this thick-skinned veg is prized for its exceptional flavour with the turban-shaped zucca cappello da prete (priest’s hat) variety being particularly cherished. It’s even been recognised as a Prodotto Agroalimentare Tradizionale, a certificate awarded by the Italian government to protect its status as an agricultural treasure of the region. It’s worth seeking out. You can sometimes find it in the UK with a special red wax seal and label denoting its provenance.
As well as pairing beautifully with fatty cheeses and rich dairy, I find it hard to resist coupling any squash with fiery chilli and ginger, hence the recipe on page 86. While in no way authentically Indonesian, it has been partially influenced by the brilliant Australian-indonesian chef Lara Lee, whose beautiful book Coconut and Sambal came out in May. Instant noodles with a quick-to-make sauce using chilli and peanut butter had long been a weeknight favourite of mine, and often, I would just add stir-fried broccoli or whatever vegetables I had. But after reading Lara’s book, which sings with stories of her culinary heritage and travels across the Indonesian archipelago, I felt inspired to add tamarind sauce (something integral to her own peanut sauce) and fragrant ka r lime leaves, which she uses along with peanuts in her utterly addictive rempeyek – crunchy crackers made with peanuts and rice flour. Lara’s combination of distinctive citrussy flavours and earthy, fatty peanuts works wonderfully with squash. I implore you to seek out Lara’s writing and recipes to feel similarly inspired.