Jamie Oliver's cheesy veg-stuffed squash will rival the turkey on Christmas Day
Jamie Oliver's vegetarian stuffed squash oozes with cheese and can be enjoyed by everyone at Christmas dinner as a side or to replace the turkey for non-meat eaters.
Christmas dinner vegetables don't have to be boring and TV chef Jamie Oliver has the perfect recipe for a "spectacular" and "utterly delicious" dish that can be enjoyed by vegetarians as a replacement for turkey and by everyone else at the table too.
Jamie wants to celebrate the seasonal squash with the dish. He says: "It's a beautiful spectacular thing that can be served alongside Christmas dinner or a Sunday roast. This vegetarian showstopper will rival the turkey for space on your Christmas plate."
Jamie takes the 'lid' off the squash (Channel 4)His "gorgeous" cheesy veg-stuffed squash uses itself as an edible bowl with a super easy cheese béchamel sauce that's packed with leeks and decorated with a crunchy topping. It can also be prepared up to two days before Christmas dinner so will save you time on the special day too.
You can use any squash - Jamie uses a French one - but there's also acorn, cricket ball and butternut squash varieties available in supermarkets, delis or farmer's markets. His recipe, from C4's Jamie's Christmas Shortcuts series, serves around 10 people.
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Ingredients you will need:
- One large squash
- Olive oil
- 2 knobs of butter
- Sea salt and black pepper
- Half a grated nutmeg
- 3 large leeks with outer leaves removed
- 2 cloves of garlic sliced
- Sprig of thyme
- One heaped tablespoon of plain flour (gluten free is fine)
- 500ml of milk
- Grater full of cheddar, red leicester or gruyere - or all three!
- 100g breadcrumbs
- A few crumbled walnuts
The roasted squash has a crunchy topping (Channel 4)Here's how to make Jamie's cheesy veg-stuffed squash:
Using a sharp knife, take the lid off the squash by moving the knife around the top to expose the centre which is going to be used as a bowl to fill with the cheesy leek sauce. Remove the seeds from the centre with a spoon - they can be washed and roasted with a little spice if you want or saved in an envelope for growing next year. Don't worry about any stringy pieces being left as they are full of flavour.
Drizzle some olive oil around the rim and the inside of the squash and sprinkle in some sea salt, black pepper and the nutmeg. Place in a snugly fitting dish and put in a preheated oven at 180C / 350F for one and a half hours.
Cut the leeks in half lengthwise with a knife and wash away from the stalk end, removing any grit from the inside. Any leftover water in them will help them to steam before frying. Finely slice the green ends into quarter centimetre pieces and as you reach the whiter stalk go into centimetre chunks.
Heat the butter and olive oil in a large pan on a high heat until it's bubbling and add the garlic then the thyme and the darker parts of the leeks first as they are coarser. Then add salt and pepper to season, before putting the whiter parts of the leeks in.
Put a lid on the frying pan and turn down to a medium heat to cook for about 30 minutes to fry and steam - this tenderises the leeks. Stir occasionally and add little splashes of water. Once the leeks are soft and tender add the flour which will thicken with the oil and butter, mix, then pour in the milk and mix again. Add the cheese to the white sauce, turn the heat off and mix together.
For the crunchy topping, mix the walnuts into the breadcrumbs using your fingers, with a little olive oil and salt. Take the cooked pumpkin out of the oven and spoon some of the broth that’s formed in the centre of the squash into your sauce and then pour the mixture into the hole, don't worry if it goes over the edge of the rim a little.
Sprinkle the crunchy topping on top of the sauce. If you’re preparing before Christmas Day, allow it to cool and then store in a cold place. When you want to eat it, place in the oven for about 20 minutes or until golden. Serve on a platter or cake stand and slice or scoop out the edge of the pumpkin along with the sauce from the middle.
Jamie Christmas shortcuts is available to watch on Channel 4 now.
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Will you try Jamie’s cheesy squash dish? Let us know in the comments below.
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