Anne's Kitchen What's cooking?!

Phew, what a few weeks! It’s been so busy that I kind of missed out on enjoying my favourite season of the year: autumn. Isn’t autumn great?! Suddenly the leaves turn golden, pumpkins appear on people’s doorsteps, farmer’s markets sell an abundance of colourful apples and it’s nice to start wearing the first wooly jumpers and big scarves. Yes, autumn’s my kinda season!

But this autumn’s been a bit strange. At the end of October, when I was in Luxembourg for the royal wedding, the sun was shining and it was 25 degrees. The previous week I was in New York, where I was trying to keep warm – and that only a couple of days after sweating generously in 30 degrees heat in Washington DC. Yes, I think I’m suffering from seasonal jetlag.

So, now that I’m finally in one place with consistent seasonal temperatures, I’m taking the time to reconnect with my kitchen and with autumn produce. One of my absolute favourite autumnal vegetables of all time are pumpkins – and butternut squash in particular. Their sweetish tender flesh is perfect for roasting or in risottos, blended in soups or grated in cakes.

Today, I’m introducing you to one of my favourite autumn butternut squash dishes. It’s so incredibly simple to put together. Just chuck all the ingredients on a baking tray, drizzle some olive oil over it and then bake for about 25 minutes et voilà, a super lovely warming autumn dinner.

Looking for more yummy roasted veg recipes? What about making my honey and whisky carrots? I’ll show you how darn simple it is in this video:

Roast Butternut Squash with Feta and Harissa Creme Fraîche

Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side

1/2 butternut squash
1/2 garlic bulb (around 8 garlic cloves)
1 tsp chili flakes
1/2 tsp cinnamon
200g feta cheese
a few rosemary sprigs
olive oil
100g crème fraîche
2 tbsp harissa paste

Preheat the oven to 200° Celsius.

Peel the butternut squash, scoop out the pips and cut into slices. Arrange in a roasting tin.

Leave the skin on the garlic cloves, and crush each clove lightly so that the juices will ooze out during the baking. Scatter over the butternut squash.

Sprinkle the chili flakes and cinnamon over the sqash, season generously with salt, then pour a few glugs of olive oil over the squash.

Crumble the feta and sprinkle over the squash, then put the rosemary sprigs on top.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until the squash is soft.

Mix the crème fraîche and the harissa paste and serve with the squash.