Stuffed Butternut Squash with Tomato Chickpea Sauce Recipe

Stuffed Butternut Squash with Tomato Chickpea Sauce Recipe

OH MY GOSH I seem to have acquired an actual working oven!! This is wayy too exciting for me, life without an oven isn't impossible, just makes life a little more difficult. Plus having to fry everything isn't the most healthy way to live!!

I have been ridiculously busy today, toddlers are really amazing, but exhausting! If you still have a toddler running around, trying to sleep in the cupboards or taking things out the fridge, giving them a few tasks to do with this will keep them occupied and be pretty helpful! Anyway, FOOD!

What you need:

1 Butternut Squash

Punnet Mushrooms

Basil

1 Onion

2 - 3 Cloves Garlic

1 Tin Chick Peas

Carton of Passata (or tin of tomatoes)
Cherry Tomatoes (optional)

Bag of Spinach
10 olives

Salt/Pepper

1 tsp chilli powder 

Olive Oil

What you need to do:

• Preheat the oven at 180 degrees
• Slice the Butternut Squash in half, scoop out the seeds with a spoon
• Lattice (make grooves across and down the flesh) but very lightly (treaadd lightly)
• Drizzle olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and put in the oven for 45mins - 1 hour (depending on how big it is - check with fork for softness!)
• MEANWHILE... (in another universe)
• Chop mushrooms finely.. I got my daughter Esme to chop them with a blunt knife, and then went over with them with a sharp one. Alternatively throw them in the food processor.
• Chop 3-4 leaves of Basil and 3/4 bag of Spinach finely, then 1-2 large cloves of garlic, and the onion, as finee as you possible can!! Try to chop the olives, if your 3 year old doesn't try to eat them all.
• Fry up the onion, garlic, olives and mushrooms with a slug of olive oil. Put to the side
•  In another pan, fry 1 clove of garlic, empty a tin of chick peas and the passata, and stir. Add the chilli powder, cherry tomatoes and 3-4 leaves of basil (roughly tear up), cook on low heat, then turn off.
• If you have time, put your feet up for 10 minutes! I went for a run, like a crazy person.
• Check the butternut squash, if getting softer, move onto next step
• Turn on the heat to the mushroom mixture, add the spinach and basil, and heat for a few minutes.
• Once wilted, scoop into the hollow parts of the squash, and bake for another 10-15 minutes
• Heat the tomato sauce through, place onto plate with extra spinach if you fancy :)
• Serve, eat YUM! I added seeds and nutritional yeast to mine, but then I am obsessed with nutritional yeast.

Extra Puddingy part!:

I spotted a discounted pineapple at my local co-op, so I thought it was only fitting to do something with it. Spending hours making a roasted butternut squash didn't leave a lot of time to cook anything else. So I just threw something together:

All you need is: 1 Pineapple, Coconut Cream (just buy coconut milk in a tin, scoop the cream off the top - I bought quite a few of these on offer for 3 for £2), Sweet Freedom or syrup of your choice, Coconut oil (not required, just tasty!)

What you need to do is: Cut the pineapple into rings (or just buy ones in a tin!), prepare a baking dish with a little coconut oil. Place the pineapple rings on the dish, add a little sweet freedom/maple syrup/anything and bake or grill for 5-10 mins. Add the coconut cream and voila! Pudding! 

Time to zzzz
 Hannah x