If you’re new here, WELCOME…This is first and foremost a place for recipes, but also where I can dish out expertise on the only thing I truly know about- how to feed your friends. I hope that You Bring The Wine either remains, or becomes, your ultimate tool kit.
The newsletter took a week off. So did I, it was great.
We’re back in action this week with a squash recipe that, I reckon, serves as the ideal halloween dish. I could have used pumpkin, and this would be a 10/10 with a nice Delica one… however, you can decide to make this tonight for dinner and you won’t have to run around town trying to find a nice looking pumpkin, which is a nice touch.
As a note, I use calvero nero here, but you can use kale just as easily. Please people, massage it ALOT.
Raw calvero or kale CAN be delicious. It can also taste raw and bitter and take a totally unacceptable time to chew it enough to swallow- the key difference between these two, is that the first has been massaged with lemon juice and little olive oil until glossy and softened and the later, simply, has not.
SERVES 4
TIME 45 MINS
VIBE: Easy and perfect for repeating all winter long.
The when is clear here no? Halloween baby. That being said, I do feel like this number is a bit of a rinse and repeat.. which takes me to the why? Once you’ve whipped this up, you can make a different version by simply swapping a few ingredients. Swap the chickpeas for cooked grains, swap the calvero nero for kale, or rocket, or big dressed leaves of radicchio. The squash could be pumpkin, it could be carrots, it could be parsnips. Make the dressing a yogurt-y one, top it with different nuts- I could go on. Anyway, my point is, you can make this salad serve you all winter long.
INGREDIENTS
1 red onion
50ml red wine vinegar
1 tsp each sugar + salt
1 large butternut squash
3 tbsp olive oil
400g can chickpeas
1 tsp each dried cumin + dried coriander
1 large bunch of calvero nero
1 lemon
1/2 bunch parsley, to serve
toasted pumpkin and sesame seeds, to serve
for the dressing
2 tbsp tahini
4 tbsp water
1 lemon
METHOD
Pickle the red onion. Peel the onion and slice it as finely as you can. Add to a bowl with the red wine vinegar, sugar and salt. Toss with your hands, so the onion is well covered and set aside to pickle.
Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan. Slice the squash in half lengthways, scoop out the seeds, then lie flat on the cut side and slice into half moons. You can remove the skin if you like- I usually leave it on because a. I’m lazy and b. I like the flavour. Lay on a baking tray, drizzle with 2 tbsp of the olive oil, season well with salt and pepper. Roast for 40 mins, until soft.
Meanwhile, drain and rinse the chickpeas, pat dry and tip into a roasting tray. Add a tbsp of the olive oil along with the dried cumin and coriander, toss well, season and roast for 10-15 mins until crispy. Be careful when you remove the chickpea tray from the oven as they can have a habit of exploding!
Cut the calvero nero leaves away from the stalks and put into a bowl. Add the juice of the lemon along with the final tbsp of olive oil, season with salt and massage until soft.
To make the dressing, add the lemon juice to the tahini, it’ll clump up but don’y panic, slowly add the water, whisking as you go until the dressing is a drizzle-able consistency. Season well.
When ready to serve, pile the squash onto a platter with the calvero nero, scatter with the crispy chickpeas. Drizzle with the tahini dressing. Top with the pickled red onion, parsley and the toasted pumpkin and sesame seeds.
I created a few recipes to be paired with the always delicious @VinsdeChablis so they’ve been popping up in the newsletter over the last few months! The dishes are the perfect partners to this crispy fresh delicious wine. This month I’ve developed this roasted butternut squash and crispy chickpea salad for you all to serve at your Halloween celebrations. It’s been paired with their Petit Chablis Olivier Tricon 2020, it’s balanced and citrusy and perfect for drinking whilst you eat this and try to avoid trick or treaters.
Next week we’re gonna be talking leeks n’ white beans. I love this dish so much and I think you’re gonna feel JUST the same. See you there. PS. I’ll try and whip up a weekly again so I can tell you all about perfect vessels for eating beans out of.
Els x