Rebecca’s Recipe of the Week: Spare Squash | Canalside Community Food

I managed to accumulate several Canalside squash in my fridge over the last fortnight. I was going to make them into a cake (and if that’s what you’d like I commend to you this recipe for brown butter spice bread.) Instead I ended up making this easy, flavourful roast squash with a spicy, umami-rich chile oil. The chile oil complements the unctuousness of the squash and is absolutely delicious. Serve it with steamed greens for a colourful and satisfying dinner.

Whole Roast Squash with Black Bean and Chile Oil
Serves 2

Ingredients
2 Canalside squash shares (not that the size is super important)
2 tablespoons rapeseed oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced fine
1 tablespoon salted black beans, rinsed
a fragment of a Canalside chile, or 1-2 teaspoons chile flakes
1 tablespoon soya sauce
1 teaspoon caster sugar

Preparation
Heat your oven to 180C. Remove the seeds from the squash.1 Put the de-seeded squash on a baking sheet and roast it until it is tender and golden, 45-75 minutes. Remove from the oven.

Meanwhile, make the black bean and chile oil. Over a low flame, heat the rapeseed oil in a small saucepan for 1 minute. Add the garlic and fry gently for 1-2 minutes, until the garlic is golden brown and a little sticky. Remove the pan from the heat and add the black beans. Return to the heat and add the chile, soya sauce, sugar and 2 tablespoons of water. Heat for about 20 seconds, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and let cool.

When the squash is cooked, you can either cut it into slices and serve warm, or let it cool before slicing. In either case drizzle the black bean and chile oil over the top and serve with a side of steamed green vegetables.

Recipe adapted from Meera Sodha, East (2019).