Seasonal squash

 I didn't take a photo of this - if I'm honest, it wasn't particularly photogenic, but it was very delicious!  The photo below is of squashes in a supermarket in Germany.

1 small squash or pumpkin - you could use butternut, and I probably will, but this was one of those green-and-white striped jobs.  

about 1/4 pack sage, 

A little olive oil

2 eggs

Salt and pepper

Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds.  Finely chop the sage (if it's fresh), and sprinkle in the cavity.  Spread olive oil all over the cut surfaces, season, and then place, hollow upwards, in a hot oven (mark 6) for 40 minutes.  Then take it out of the oven, break an egg into each hollow (where the seeds are) and return to the oven for a further 8 minutes.  If the egg overflows the hollows, tough - you can scrape it up when you take it out of the oven!  I served this with a tray of ready-to-bake vegetables from Lidl, and it was absolutely delicious!  

Bean casserole with halloumi

 One thing about lockdown - I'm posting more recipes!  I didn't during the first lockdown because I was ill myself and not eating or cooking, but we did - and still do - order a takeaway most weeks to support local businesses, and that has inspired several recipes.  This one, however, came from several sources, including the BBC Good Food site (I do recommend this if you're looking for recipes) and Easy Cheesy Vegetarian (whom I also recommend, even though I'm not veggie!).

1/4 cup white cannellini beans

1/4 cup red kidney beans

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks

1 courgette, chopped

1 leek, chopped

1 sweet pepper, seeds removed, chopped

1 tin tomatoes

1 sloosh harissa or tomato paste

A little cooking oil

1 small pack spinach

1 pack halloumi cheese.

Seasoning, as liked

Soak the beans either overnight in cold water or for at least an hour in boiling water to which you have added a pinch of bicarbonate of soda.

Turn your Instant Pot on to sauté and add the oil, then when it has heated, add the chopped onion and garlic, and cook for a few minutes until they are beginning to become translucent.  Then add the rest of the vegetables, and allow to cook for awhile (in an ideal world, put a lid on and let them cook in their own steam for a bit, but....

Then add the paste (if you don't like spicy, use tomato paste, otherwise us harissa paste - just a spoonful), the tin of tomatoes and about half the tinful of water, and the drained, rinsed beans.  Cook on high pressure for 12 minutes.

Meanwhile put the spinach in a colander and pour boiling water over it to wilt it.  When it's cool enough to handle, chop it roughly.

When the Instant Pot beeps, slice the halloumi and dry fry it (detailed instructions here). 

After about 10 minutes, release the remaining pressure and stir the wilted spinach through the stew.  Serve in bowls, topped with the fried halloumi.  I found there was enough stew to do twice, so I may serve the rest either with more halloumi or with sausages or something similar.  We shall see....

I should add that this is one of those recipes you can adapt to suit your own personal tastes and whatever veg you have in the fridge!  I think really only the tomatoes, beans, onions and garlic are compulsory - the rest is up to you!

ETA: In fact, the stew did 3 times; I topped what was left of it with a layer of grated cheese and then some crispy garlic breadcrumbs, and we made that do us twice, although it was a tad mere....

Red pepper sauce

 I am absolutely sure that, back in the day, I had a recipe for red pepper sauce which involved a red pepper (well, duh!) and lemon juice, but couldn't find it until this minute.  So I googled a bit and made up this one, which was delicious with sea bass earlier this evening.  I'll post the original recipe below, for comparison purposes.  The sauce is, of course, vegan, so you can use it in all sorts of ways if you don't eat meat or fish.  It would be very good on roasted vegetables, for instance.

1 sweet red pepper

1 small head garlic

1 tbs lemon juice

Seasoning, as liked.

Pre-heat the oven to Mark 6, 200C. Remove the stalk from the pepper, and place it on a baking tray.  Remove the papery outside from the garlic, and, using a very sharp knife, cut through the top of the head, exposing all the cloves.  Spray with a little cooking oil, and wrap with foil.  Bake both pepper and garlic in the oven for 40 minutes.  Then put the pepper in a plastic bag to "sweat" so that you can easily remove the skin after ten minutes or so.  

Put the pepper into a food processor along with the garlic, which you have squeezed out from its skin, lemon juice and seasoning, and process until smooth.

This, now that I have found it, was my original recipe.

1 small onion
1 clove garlic
1 large or 2 small red sweet (bell) pepper(s)
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper

Chop onion and garlic and microwave for 5 minutes, or dry-fry*. Flame pepper(s) or toast under grill until skin blackens. Place in plastic bag for ten minutes, then peel skin. Remove pips and white veins, and chop roughly.

Place peppers, onions, and garlic in a food processor, and blend, adding lemon juice until mixture resembles a thick cream in texture. Season to taste. This is glorious with fish - salmon, trout, white fish.....

* These days I'd probably cook them gently in a little oil until translucent.