Baked Butter Nut Squash, Zuchini and Cheese

Monday, July 14, 2008

Besides the usual salad-and- potato fare for a vegetarian overseas, I found Aussie offers roasted pumpkin! Every other shop has a lovely orange slice on display. People seem to love it! I bought a butternut squash yesterday to experiment. Its just like the usual 'pushnikai' but bottle shaped rather than round, with a slight difference in flavour. I have never ever cut a pumkin before, and had to struggle with two large knives to cut it in half! By the way, I needed a black background to bring out the orange of the squash in the photographs, and could only find my laptop cover to suit the purpose, and now my laptop smells of butter nut squash too! Here is my recipe for baking butternut squash. It tasted simply yummy!


Ingredients
Butternut squash - 1/2 (Cut the squash length-wise), Salt - 1/2 tsp, Red Chillie powder - 1/4 tsp, Olive Oil - 1 tsp, Brie Cheese - a 1" piece (or as much as you like), Grated Cheddar cheese - 1tbsp
For zuchini: Zuchini (Tondakai could be a good alternative!) - 1 (sliced into circles)saltolive oil - 1 1/2 tsp
For chillie white sauce: Butter - 1/2 tbsp, Corn flour - 1 tsp, Milk - 1/2 cup, Grated Cheddar cheese - 1tbsp, green chillies - 2, cinnamon powder - a pinch, pepper powder - a pinch
Method
For Butternut Squash:
Wash and cut the butternut squash length-wise. (I used half for this dish.) Scoop out soft fibres and seeds. With the sharp edge of the knife, cut lines into the pulp. Sprinkle salt and red chillie powderall over. wipe the uncut side with a little oil,and drizzle some more oil on the cut side.Bake for 1/2 hou, at 250 degrees in a fan forced oven until cooked, cut side down.Test the squash with a fork, to see if it has completely cooked.
For chillie white sauce: Melt butter on a low flame. Add sliced green chillies. Add the corn flour and swish the pan, until corn flour slightly browns. Add milk slowly, stirring continuously so that no lumps are formed. Add a pinch pinch of cinnamon powder, and cheese, pepper powder and continue to stir. In a minute about 4 tbsp of thick smooth white sauce is ready.
For zuchini: Heat a frying pan with few drops of oil. Toss the zuchini slices with salt, until they start browing. Switch off the flame.
For the final touch! Remove the squash from the oven. Arrange zuchini slices, inside the squash, and pour the white sauce on top. Sprinkle grated cheddar cheese, as well as the brie and replace in the oven. Bake for another 5 minutes, until the cheeses melt, and just begin to brown. You can serve the dish completely foe a meal or cut into thick slices and then serve. Check out how it looks! This can be a meal in itself!
Note: I browsed the net for baked butternut squash - and found that baking instructions vary from mine! Most sites suggest 1" of water in the baking pan, with the cut side of the squash down, and baking for almost 1 to 1.5 hours. I guess this may make it very very soft. I had not known this, and simply baked it 'just-like-that' and it took 25 minutes to cook! The two-cheese part is because I love cheese, and anything 'fonduesque'!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like a 5 STAR treat. pictures fantastic. would like to taste a scoop.amma and appa

Sum Raj said...

luved new creative dish....looks delicious and inviting

YOSEE said...

looks right royal RICH ! Think it will work with our humble parangikai ( pumpkin)? I do like pumpkin with cinnamon. so a bit of cheese may jazz it up i think.

Sum Raj said...

hai...i guess it taste good even with tune fish...do try and let me know the results... :)

Shreya said...

looks grt.. amazing mix of ingredients...

A_and_N said...

Simply mouthwatering! Love the pic with the molten cheese :D

Hey Dibs. Whats cooking? Thanks for visiting my site. I love the squash pictures you took. Especially having one sitting in the chair. Well, I guess it should. It is a dinner guest! Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

oh wow, that butternut squash and zucchini combination looks great! I'll have to try this out too :)