Roasted Squash, Red Pepper and Parsley Pasta Loaf or Terrine

I'll be travelling with D later this afternoon to visit his mother in Essex, but before I start packing up and getting ready to go, I thought I would share a recipe with you that you could perhaps make for your New Years Eve party - Roasted Squash, Red Pepper and Parsley Loaf, or Terrine if you so wish.  

After another visit to Usk Farmers Market a week or so back, not only did I come back home with some proper home-made bread that I have been thoroughly enjoying, I also bagged at a super bargain price a mixed variety of squashes: uchiki kuri, acorn squash and patty pan and a handful of fresh parsley.  I decided to remake the Pasta Loaf I made earlier this month with Swiss chard, this time with the squashes.  

Cranberry Couscous

This dish came about in an attempt to use some chopped vegetables in my fridge: a wedge of squash and a large floret of broccoli. These were left over from the Uchiki Kuri Squash and Broccoli pie.

I was not sure how D would find this couscous salad. His reservations towards couscous have been well documented on this blog. But he was pleasantly surprised at his liking for this vibrant salad that can only be described as both sweet and savoury. The sweetness came from the cranberries, and squash and the savoury from the broccoli and salty vegetable stock.
Savoury Cranberry Couscous salad
Serves 3 - 4
Ingredients
A wedge of pumpkin or butternut squash
100g - 150g broccoli stalks, chopped down into bite size pieces
400ml vegetable stock
200g couscous
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely sliced
50g dried cranberries
Salt to taste
Method
Chop the pumpkin or butternut squash wedge into bite size pieces. Drizzle with a little oil and bake in oven until tender. Remove and set aside.
Steam the broccoli stalks until tender, then set aside
In a bowl add the couscous and to with 400ml vegetable stock. Cover and set aside
Heat the oil, add the onion and cook until soft and translucent. Add the cranberries and add 2 tablespoons of cold water and cook for a couple of minutes. Turn off heat.
Combine all the ingredients into a bowl and season generously with salt to taste. Serve warm or cold.

Uchiki Kuri Squash and Broccoli pie

Although the pumpkins have disappeared from the supermarket shelves, you will still find plenty of winter squashes.
In my first year of growing vegetables, I had sowed some Uchiki Kuri squash seeds. Uchicki Kuri is also known as Red Squash and Japanese Red Onion squash. It is a Japanese cultivar and its name translates as 'Bashful chestnut'. Well only one plant survived and from that one plant I was rewarded with one teardrop shaped squash. Yes, I was disappointed in the quantity, but not at all disappointed in the flavour. It was perhaps the most gorgeous squash I had ever tasted. It was sweet and nutty reminisce of chestnuts and unlike some squashes and pumpkins, it was smooth in texture.

So you can imagine my excitement when I saw it mingling amongst other varieties of winter squashes. Also unlike other squashes and pumpkins that tend to be a bit on the dry side. The flesh of the Uchiki Kuri is rather moist. So like a child looking into a treasure trove of toys, or an adult wanting the black or purple one in a sweetie packet, I grabbed for this sunset orange one and created this vegetable pie.
Uchiki Kuri Squash and Broccoli pie
Serves 6
Ingredients
For the pastry
150g butter
250g plain flour
Cold water
For the filling
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
200g-250g squash or pumpkin, chopped into cubes
1 small potato, chopped into cubes
100g – 150g broccoli, cut into small florets
1 carrot, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
*Optional 80g cheddar cheese, grated
Method
Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4.
For the pastry
Chop the butter. Sift the flour into a large bowl and add the chopped butter. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until it is fine and crumbly. Add enough cold water to combine and make a firm dough and smooth.
Divide the dough in half, roll out one portion and line a deep 8 inch fluted flan tin. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Cover the remaining dough in clingfilm and refrigerate.
Cut a sheet of greaseproof paper to cover the pastry-lined tin. Spread a layer of ceramic or dried beans over the paper. Bake for 10 minutes, then take out of the oven removing the lined paper with the ceramic beans. Return to the oven and cook for another 10 minutes or until lightly golden. Allow to cool.
For the filling
Heat the oil in a frying pan, Add the onion and cook until soft. Add the potatoes, squash and cook for about 5 minutes, then add in the carrots and broccoli and cook for a until all the vegetables are tender. (Don't worry if the squash start to break). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside to cool down.
Roll out the remaining pastry out to 9 inch diameter circle. Then you can either use a cookie cutter and cut out required number of shapes to top your pie OR For lattice effect: Cut into strips and lay half of them on a sheet of baking paper, leaving a ½ inch gap between each strip. Interweave the remaining strips to form a lattice pattern.

When the vegetable mixture is cool, stir in the cheese if using* and then spoon it evenly into the pastry case, pressing down gently if necessary. Now using the baking paper to lift, invert the pastry lattice over the vegetables, trim the excess.
Gently press the pastry into the rim of the pastry tin. Brush with a little olive oil.

Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until golden. Enjoy hot or cold.