Baked butternut squash, ricotta and spinach
- Published: 19 Nov 14
- Updated: 18 Mar 24
The combination of creamy ricotta and sweet butternut squash makes for a truly comforting vegetarian main course.
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Serves 4
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Hands-on time 20 min, oven time 1 hour 20-55 min
Ingredients
- 1 large butternut squash (about 1.2kg), halved lengthways
- ½ tsp caraway seeds, plus extra for sprinkling
- ½ tsp crushed red chillies
- 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 100g baby spinach
- 500g ricotta
- 4 tbsp grated parmesan (or vegetarian alternative), plus extra to serve
- 1 medium free-range egg, plus an extra yolk
- Bunch fresh sage leaves
Method
- Heat the oven to 200°C/fan180°C/ gas 6. Scoop out and discard the seeds from the squash. Sit the squash halves cut-side up in a roasting tin. Score the flesh in a crosshatch pattern with a knife and season. Scatter over the caraway seeds, chillies and whole garlic cloves, then drizzle with olive oil. Cover with foil and roast for 1-1½ hours until soft.
- Set the garlic cloves aside, then scoop all but 2 tbsp of the squash flesh into a bowl, keeping it in pieces. Gently stir through the spinach and season, then leave to cool.
- Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins into a large bowl and mash into the remaining 2 tbsp squash using a fork. Add the ricotta, parmesan and some seasoning. Add the whole egg and extra yolk, stir well, then gently stir through the spinach and squash mixture.
- Spoon into 4 x 200g individual gratin dishes. Top with the parmesan, scatter with extra caraway seeds and the sage leaves, then bake for 20-25 minutes until golden. Serve immediately.
- Recipe from November 2014 Issue
Nutrition
Per serving
- Calories
- 449kcals
- Fat
- 27.6g (13.2g saturated)
- Protein
- 24.3g
- Carbohydrates
- 27.4g (15.8g sugars)
- Fibre
- 7.3g
- Salt
- 0.8g
delicious. tips
Follow the recipe up to the end of step 2, then spoon into a freezer bag and freeze for up to 1 month. Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins, as in step 3, then freeze in another bag. Defrost, then finish the recipe.
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I love this recipe because it’s not the most technical of dishes so it doesn’t leave me stressed while cooking, nor does it require a long shopping list of items, as most things are store cupboard regulars for us. What it does do is give us an easy dish, packed with wonder flavours which make me think of Italy and sunshine. A real favourite, not only for the veggies in my family but for the meat eaters too, as they don’t feel they’ve missed out on flavours or textures despite it being a meat free dish. I love the spinach but if that’s not to someone’s tastes, it’s easy to substitute it with many other vegetables or even parma ham if you really did want a hit of the red stuff. A great way to get some veggies into the kids too without endless groans, just lots of yummmmmmms.