So tonights dinner was what I like to call a FRIDGE RAID, pretty much what it says on the tin. One of those nights where you look in the fridge and go “I have no idea what I can make with this!!” Have a little ponder, a little google and then make some shiz up. This is my shiz, and is by far my favourite to date. And the recipe is right here!! Oh and it's healthy too!
Roasted Beetroot and Butternut Squash, Crispy Kale and a Pesto Herb Smash
Serves 2 (ish)
INGREDIENTS
1 butternut squash
3 fresh or precooked beetroot
2 medium onions
3 or 4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp fresh or dried oregano
1 tsp fresh or dried thyme
1 bag of kale
1 handful of pine nuts
olive oil
salt & pepper
handful of basil
handful of parsley
2 garlic cloves
1 handful of pine nuts
parmesan
lemon juice
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180’C.
Peel, deseed and quarter the squash and slice into 1cm thick slices, cut the beetroots into quarters, peel the onions and chop into thirds. Put all of these into an ovenproof dish and season with a good pinch of salt, pepper, the dried herbs and a glug of olive oil. Give it a mix around with your hands, add an extra sprinkle of salt for good measure and place in the oven for an hour until the squash is soft and has started to colour around the edges.
Whilst the vegetables are in the oven get started on the Pesto Herb Smash. (Reminder: I made this as a Fridge Raid so the measurements could very well be out with this. Use your initiative when it comes to the quantities with this, I did a fair bit of adjusting with my ingredients before I got to the perfect fresh and punchy combo. So be brave and adjust as needed. If it needs a dash more lemon juice add it, more salt? Yes! Does that basil shine through? Does it need another glug of olive oil. Experiment. This is a pretty versatile sauce and it’s unlikely it’ll ever be inedible.)
I used a pestle and mortar to make this adding in the ingredients bit by bit, if you haven’t got one of these a hand blender will work too, but just throw all the ingredients in and then adjust after giving it a blitz.
Start by peeling the garlic cloves and adding them to the pestle and mortar with a pinch of salt and crush to a paste. Pour in a handful of pine nuts with a handful of the fresh herbs, some olive oil and give it another pounding, you’ll probably find you’ll want to add some more basil and parsley later on. Once its starting to resemble a fresh pesto add a good squeeze of lemon juice, a fine grating of parmesan, mix and taste. Now this is when I leave the adjusting down to you, be bold with your flavours you might be surprised with how much they make it shine.
To toast the pine nuts put a frying pan over a medium heat and leave dry (no oil!) when hot add a handful of pine nuts and cook for a few minutes until golden and smelling delicious.
When the roast vegetables are looking like they’re almost done its time to get going with the Kale. Lay out as much of the Kale as you can on a baking tray, trust me the more you get on the better as this stuff is heaven. I could eat this stuff like I do a packet of crisps on many occasion. So, lay as much kale on the tray as possible, lightly drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and toss to coat. Put in the oven with the rest of the veg and cook for 8-10 minutes, until it starts to crisp and dry out.
When everything is ready, plate like you would a salad. Kale first, topped with veg, a big dollop of Pesto Smash on top, and a sprinkling of toasted pine nuts. You shouldn’t need to do anymore seasoning if you’ve seasoned properly throughout the cook. And that’s it. VOILA! Enjoy. I’m already drooling for you.