By Nathan Lloyd
A simple twist on the classic dish, made with squash and herbs.
You’ll need:
Half a roasted butternut squash, de-skinned
1 onion, chopped finely
1 tsp garlic paste/1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
20g rye bread crumbs
1 tin of butter beans, drained
1tbsp dried parsley
1tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Pinch of salt
Generous amount of cracked, black pepper
Method:
Quarter and deseed the butternut squash then place in a deep baking tray. Drizzle with vegetable oil, sprinkle with salt and cover with foil and bake in the oven at 180° for around forty minutes. You can roast the squash in the bottom of the oven when your housemate is heating up a pasta bake – basically, roasted squash is a really versatile ingredient, especially in the Autumn, so bung one when it’s convenient.
Check when they’re done by poking with a fork – they should be really soft. Take them out and allow them to cool (so they’re okay to handle) and save half the squash for a future recipe (soup is good). When they’re cool, scoop out the flesh of the other half and add to a mixing bowl.
Soften the chopped onion in a little oil and add to the mix. Combine the rest of the ingredients and mash with a masher until the beans are broken up and not too big. You can freeze whatever mix you don’t use or otherwise allow to rest in the fridge for a day or two. Form the mix into round, meatball sized balls and shallow fry in a little vegan butter until browned on all sides.
Serve with some boiled potatoes and a simple cucumber salad/pickle (half a cucumber, sliced finely; 4tbsp sugar; 4tbsp white wine vinegar; some mustard seeds; some black peppercorns; dill, chopped finely; a few bay leaves and a splash of water. Make sure the cucumber is covered and leave to do its thing for at least an hour or two, longer if possible – it’ll keep in the fridge for AGES).
