Butternut squash
3 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
I butternut squash, peeled and cubed
15 g pumpkin seeds
15 g sunflower seeds
1 ½ tsp nigella seeds
½ tsp coriander
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground cinnamon
5 green cardamom pods, crushed to extract the seeds (discard the husks)
1 tbsp caster sugar
¾ tsp sea salt flakes
100 ml vegetable stock
1-2 tsp @belazu_co Smoked Chilli Harissa (to taste)
Method
Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the onion and cook until softened. Add the butternut squash and cook until the edges start to caramelise. Add the seeds, spices, sugar and salt and fry for 2 mins. Pour in the hot stock and smoked chilli harissa, check the seasoning, and cook over a moderate heat until the squash is softened. Leave to cool completely.
Spinach & rainbow chard
75 ml Valdespino sherry vinegar (@brindisaspanishfoods)
100 ml brandy
100 g currants
1½ tbsp olive oil
75 g pine nuts, toasted
75 g flaked almonds
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
2 banana shallots, peeled and sliced thinly
2 garlic cloves, crushed
200 ml double cream
150 g baby spinach
150 g rainbow chard, chopped
Method
Pour the sherry vinegar and brandy into a small saucepan and warm through then remove from the heat and add the currants.
Mix the nuts with 1 tsp olive oil and the smoked paprika.
Add a splash of olive oil to a very large sauté pan, place on a medium-low heat and cook the shallots until soft and lightly coloured, then add the garlic and 1 tsp of salt and cook for a couple of minutes.
Add the currant and brandy mix and the nuts, and cook for 2 min. Pour in the cream, increase the heat and cook for 3 min, to reduce the sauce by half. Stir in the spinach and chard and cook until the leaves have wilted and the liquid mostly evaporated. If necessary, remove the spinach to a bowl and reduce the cream to leave just a couple of tablespoons, then add to the spinach/chard. All to cool completely.
Assembly
Ghee (@khanumbrand), melted and allowed to cool a little (so much easier than melting butter!)
1 packet of filo pastry
Nigella seeds
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas mark 6.
Brush the inside of a baking tin (or several small tins) with melted ghee, then brush the first sheet of filo pastry (keep the rest of the filo covered in a damp tea towel, to stop it drying out). Lay the filo pastry across the base of the tin, with the excess hanging over the sides. Brush a second sheet of pastry with ghee and lay across the base, at right angles to the first layer. Continue to layer up the pastry in a circle until the base is completely covered.
Spoon the butternut squash into the pastry case, then add the spinach layer on top. Fold over the pastry, enclosing the contents completely and wrinkling up the surface, then add a final brush of ghee. Sprinkle over the nigella seeds.
Bake in the oven for 40 mins to 1 hour, until the pastry is golden brown and crisp.