Middle-eastern roasted squash, carrot and parsnip

We were delighted with this warming autumnal supper dish that served as a leftover lunch for the next day. Trickled with the spice sauce, the vegetables present a simple yet satisfying meal that tantalizes the senses with a Middle-eastern combination of flavours.

The following recipe has been adapted from Lakeland's "Tagines".

Ingredients for 6

- 900 g of peeled, de-seeded and cubed butternut squash
- 1 tbsp of olive oil

- 4 large, washed and trimmed carrots, thickly sliced
- 2 large, washed and trimmed parsnips, thickly sliced

- A small handful of mint leaves to garnish
- 40 g of roasted pine nuts (to roast, place pine nuts on a hot frying pan and toss for few minutes until they start to colour)

For the spice sauce
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tsp of cumin seeds
- 1 tsp of coriander seeds
- 1/2 tsp of ground coriander
- 1 tsp of sea salt
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 20 g of butter
- 55 g of dark muscovado sugar
- 375 ml of apple juice

Preparing the dish

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Coat the squash in the oil and roast in a large oven proof dish until tender (about 25 minutes).

Meanwhile, boil the carrots and parsnip separately until tender. Drain well and set aside.

To make the spice sauce use a small electric spice blender (or mortar and pestle) to blend garlic, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, salt and oil until the ingredients form a thick paste.

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan and add the paste. Cook for 3 minutes stirring continuously. Then add the sugar and juice, bring to the boil and cook on a low to medium heat until the sauce starts to thicken.

Place the vegetables in a large bowl and trickle with the sauce - use as much or as little as you like. Toss gently to combine and sprinkle with pine nuts and mint leaves.

Serve whilst still warm.

Apple and parsnip fritters with bacon

The combination of apple, parsnip and bacon may sound odd at first, but expect to surprise your tastebuds with the sourness of the apple cutting through the sweetness of the parsnip, all of which is complemented by the saltines of a crunchy bacon rasher. This recipe, like many posted before, is adapted from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s “River Cottage Fruit Everyday”.

Ingredients for 10 to 12 fritters

- 300 g of peeled, topped and tailed parsnips
- 2 medium-large (about 300 g) Cox’s apples or any other large eating apples, peeled
- 1 medium egg, lightly beaten
- 2 tbs plain flour
- Sunflower oil for frying
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper for seasoning
- 8 rashers of streaky smoked bacon

Preparing the fritters

Start by chopping the parsnips into sizeable chunks of about 5 cm long and put them in a saucepan with enough cold water to cover them. Salt lightly and bring to the boil. As you will be frying them later you will only need to cook the parsnips for 3 minutes. Then take them off the heat and drain.

Once the parsnips have cooled down enough to handle them, coarsely grate them into a bowl. Do the same with apples and add the egg and flour to the bowl too. Season with plenty of salt and pepper and mix everything together well.

Get a non stick frying pan ready by heating it over medium heat and covering it with about 2 mm of oil. Make the fritters by taking 1 dessertspoon full of the apple and parsnip mixture and shaping it into a small burger like disk. For best results do this with your hands and place each fritter on a chopping board. Using a large spatula carefully lift every one and put in the sizzling oil. You will be able to fry about 4 or 5 fritters at a time so this will need to be done in batches. Fry for about 5 minutes on one side, carefully flip it over and fry for another 5 minutes.

Whilst frying the fritters, heat up another frying pan to high heat and fry the bacon rashers until crispy, turning them every so often.

Serve the fritters straight out of the pan.

For a delectable mouthful, enjoy every bite with a bit of salty bacon.