Kitchen Greatest Hits: Stuffed Squash with Vegan Gravy

Chef Nigel Barden joins Simon Mayo's Drivetime Show to create delicious recipes for Kitchen Greatest Hits.

Every week, Nigel offers a new recipe for you to try! Click here to see all the recipes so far.

Stuffed Squash with Vegan Gravy

This week Nigel Barden is making Stuffed Squash with Vegan Gravy from Christmas at River Cottage written by Lucy Brazier, with notes and recipes from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (Bloomsbury).

Nigel chose this dish as it is suitable for everyone, and the mix of spices including coriander, fennel seeds, rosemary, smoked paprika and chilli flakes, along with the Brussel sprout slaw, puts a festive spin on the dish.

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

1 medium sweet-fleshed squash, about 2kg (Crown Prince works particularly well)

About 4 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil

8 garlic cloves, peeled and bashed

2 medium onions, quartered

About 350g parsnips, peeled and cut into pointy chunks

1 orange

2 eating apples, cored and cut into chunky eighths

150g cooked chestnuts, roughly chopped

3 chicory bulbs, quartered lengthways

A squeeze of lemon juice

Sea salt and black pepper

For the spice mix

2 tsp fennel seeds

2 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp sweet smoked paprika

A good pinch of dried chilli flakes

1 tbsp chopped rosemary leaves

Zest of the orange

For the Vegan Gravy

2 tbsp rapeseed oil

About 100g large chestnut or open cap mushrooms, roughly chopped

200ml red wine

1 medium onion, roughly chopped

1 medium carrot, halved lengthways and thickly sliced

1 celery stick, roughly chopped

About 1 tsp plain flour

About 500ml hot light vegetable stock (or water)

2 bay leaves

1 large sprig of thyme

1 tbsp strong coffee (espresso or similar)

1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce

Sea salt & black pepper

For the Brussels sprout slaw (optional)

150g Brussels sprouts, trimmed of any tired outer leaves

½ lemon

½ clementine

To finish and serve

50g pumpkin seeds, toasted

Vegan gravy (see method below)

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C/Fan 170°C/Gas 5. Slice the top quarter or third off the squash and set it aside. Scoop out the seeds from the 'bowl' that’s left and scoop out or trim some of the flesh around the inside of the opening to make it wider. Cut away the peel from the top then cut the flesh from this piece into chunks; save these with the trim from the bowl.

Brush the inside of the squash with a little oil, season well with salt and pepper and add half the bashed garlic cloves. Place the squash on a baking tray and roast for 1–1½ hours, until the flesh is tender.

Meanwhile, prepare the spice mix. Toast the fennel and coriander seeds in a dry pan for a minute or two until fragrant, let cool slightly then crush to a coarse powder, using a pestle and mortar. Add the paprika, chilli flakes and chopped rosemary. Finely grate the zest of the orange and add this too. Season with some salt and pepper and mix well.

Put the reserved squash into a large roasting dish, along with the squash pieces. Add the onions, parsnips and the rest of the garlic. Add 2 tbsp oil and toss the veg in it, then add the spice mix and stir well so that the veg is well coated with spices. Put into the oven (above the squash if that fits) and roast for 20 minutes, until starting to colour. (If the squash is cooked before the rest of the roasted veg, cover it with foil to keep it warm.)

If you are serving the slaw, prepare it while the veg are roasting. Slice the Brussels sprouts very thinly and put them into a bowl. Trickle over a little oil and give them a squeeze each of lemon and clementine juice. Season with salt and pepper and toss together well, breaking up the sprout leaves a bit as you go. Put to one side.

Slice the zested orange into 8 wedges. Take the roasting tray from the oven and add the apples, orange wedges, chestnuts, chicory and lemon juice. Stir, so that all the ingredients get a coating of spice. Return to the oven for 30 minutes or until everything is tender and starting to turn golden. Remove the roasted orange wedges and set aside.

When the squash is tender, place it on a large warmed serving platter and heap the roasted veg, chestnuts and apples into it. (Any spare veg can be served on the side.)

Scatter the toasted pumpkin seeds over the top of the filled squash. Serve with the roasted orange wedges for squeezing over, and the slaw on the side if serving. Pour the vegan gravy into a jug to pass around.

Vegan Gravy

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wide, heavy pan over a high heat. Add the mushrooms and fry ‘hard’ for 7-8 minutes, without stirring to start with to develop some colour, then stir them from time to time. They will release some liquid; keep cooking until this is evaporated and the mushrooms are well reduced. Loosen any bits sticking to the base of the pan with a wooden spatula from time to time. Keep going until the mushrooms are thoroughly browned and caramelised then tip them into a bowl. Add a splash of the wine to the pan, scraping to deglaze it, then add this liquor to the mushrooms.

Give the pan a wipe and add the remaining 1 tbsp oil, then the onion, carrot and celery. Sizzle pretty hard until the veg are well browned. Add another splash of wine, giving the pan a good stir-and-scrape with a spatula. Now add a sprinkling of flour and cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes.

Add the stock, remaining wine and herbs. Bring to a simmer and cook for 6-7 minutes until the veg are just tender. Add the coffee and tamari/soy and return the mushrooms to the pan. Take off the heat, discard the herbs and tip the contents of the pan into a blender. Blitz to a smooth gravy, adding a little extra stock if needed. Add salt and pepper to taste if required.

Serve straight away or cool and chill until needed. It may separate a bit on cooling, but will come back together if you give it a whisk as you reheat it.

Take a look at all of Nigel's Kitchen's Greatest Hits:

Read more:

Kitchen Greatest Hits: All the recipes the Simon Mayo Drivetime Show

Simon Mayo returns to Drivetime with Greatest Hits Radio

Do you have a confession to make? 👀

Get to know Matt Williams from the Simon Mayo Drivetime Show

Get to know Nigel Barden from the Simon Mayo Drivetime Show

How to listen to Greatest Hits Radio:

You can listen on DAB digital radio, online at www.greatesthitsradio.co.uk, or via the Greatest Hits Radio app. You can also listen on your smart speaker by saying 'Play Greatest Hits Radio' on Alexa, or 'Play Greatest Hits Radio on tune-in' on Google Home.

• nigel barden
• simon mayo drivetime show
• Recipes