Sunday best

You don’t always need an expensive cut of meat to bring the wow factor to your table – cook one of our budget-friendly dishes for friends this weekend

Cook one of our wow-factor, budget-friendly roasts for the family this weekend

Stuffed butternut squash with cider cream sauce

2 HOURS 30 MINUTES | SERVES 4 | EASY | V

This veggie main becomes a real centrepiece when carved into slices at the table. You can make this vegan by omitting the egg from the stuffing and using a vegan cream substitute in the sauce.

butternut squash 1 large, halved lengthways and deseeded cider 500ml double cream 150ml wholegrain mustard 1 tbsp kale 100g extra-virgin olive oil 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds 1 tbsp, toasted STUFFING vegetable oil 2 tbsp

onion 1 small, finely chopped celery 1 stick, finely chopped carrot 1 small, grated garlic 2 cloves, finely chopped

soft white breadcrumbs 50g apple 1, peeled, cored and finely diced sage ½ a bunch, leaves shredded

egg yolk 1

• Heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Scoop out some flesh from the neck of the butternut squash, ensuring you leave a shell approximately 2cm thick. Finely chop the scooped out butternut flesh and put in a frying pan with 1 tbsp of the vegetable oil, onion, celery, carrot, garlic and a pinch of salt. Cook gently for 10 minutes until the vegetables have softened. Stir in the breadcrumbs, apple, sage and some seasoning. Cool a little then mix in the egg yolk.

• Season the butternut squash shell and spoon the stuffing into the cavity. Carefully put the two halves of the butternut back together to reform the squash and tie with string at intervals to secure it. Put into a roasting tray and use scrunched up foil on either side so it doesn’t roll over. Drizzle well with the remaining vegetable oil, season again and roast for 1 hour 30 minutes-1 hour 45 minutes or until the squash is tender but still holding its shape.

• To make the sauce, put the cider into a pan and boil to reduce by ½. Pour in the double cream then simmer until thickened. Stir through the wholegrain mustard and season.

• When the butternut is ready, blanch the kale in a large pan of salted boiling water for 1 minute until wilted, drain really well then toss with the extra-virgin olive oil and seasoning.

• Serve the butternut with the kale scattered with pumpkin seeds, and sauce on the side.

PER SERVING 461 KCALS | FAT 27.6G SATURATES 13.6G | CARBS 33.7G | SUGARS 16.8G FIBRE 6.7G | PROTEIN 7.7G | SALT 0.5G