Roasted Squash with Walnut, Lentil and Coffee Ragù Recipe
Pumpkin and squash are such classic winter flavours, but – as you’ll know if you’ve ever prepared one – produce great heaps of waste. If you’ve always wanted to find a way to use everything from the seeds to the skin, then give this simple recipe from Chantelle Nicholson, Illy’s UK Chef Ambassador, a go.
Ingredients
- 1 onion squash, or red kuri squash (use 2 if they're small)
- 4 tbsp of olive oil
- 40g of unsalted butter
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp of tomato purée
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 160g of lentils, dried
- 2 tbsp of espresso
- 150g of walnuts, roughly chopped
- 10g of parsley, chopped
- 100g of crème fraîche
Method · 2 h
- Scrub and peel the squash, retaining the peel. Quarter the squash and scoop out the seeds. Set aside a handful of peels, then place the remaining peels and seeds into a medium-sized saucepan and cover with 1.5 litres of water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. Strain the stock and set aside
- While the stock cooks, preheat the oven to 165°C fan or your air fryer to 140℃
- Coat the remaining squash peel in 1 tsp olive oil, season with salt, and place on a baking tray or in the air fryer basket. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until crispy, moving them regularly so they cook evenly
- Heat a large ovenproof frying pan over moderate heat. Add 2 tbsp olive oil and season the pan well with salt. When hot, add the squash wedges, cut-side down, cook until golden brown. Flip, and repeat with the other side. When golden on both sides, turn the wedges onto their curved side. Add a small knob of butter to each wedge, then add the remaining butter to the pan
- Transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 10-15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted meets no resistance. Remove from the oven
- Meanwhile, add the remaining 2 tsp olive oil to a medium saucepan over a medium heat. When hot, add the diced onion, season well, and cook until almost golden. Add the garlic and cook for 3 minutes
- Add the tomato purée and garam masala and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the squash stock and add the lentils. Simmer for 5 minutes, then add the espresso. Cook for a further 5 minutes, then add the walnuts. Cook for another 5 minutes, or until the lentils are al dente. Stir in the parsley
- To serve, place the squash wedges onto plates. Spoon over the ragù, add dollops of crème fraîche, and finish with the crispy squash skins
