Glorious Butternut

About five or six years ago, I remember being at a friend's house and watching the BBC food channel on DSTV. I cannot tell you exactly which program it was, but I will never forget this: The presenter said that she had come across a vegetable, quite unknown to her and quite wonderful to her.  And so she introduced the butternut.


Indeed I couldn't help but laugh- for us in South Africa, the butternut was a staple veg from when we were children. But she was right about one thing, though, and that is that the humble butternut is wonderful. It is a fantastically diverse vegetable and from its bright orange colour, rich in beta carotene. Butternut is also slightly starchy and can be roasted, boiled, made into soups, is wonderful in stews and curries and on top of all that marries well with traditional Italian flavours (basil, garlic and tomato) so that it becomes a great filling for pasta and an even nicer sauce. Sage is another herb that compliments butternut. Try it roasted with olive oil and rosemary to accompany any roast: lamb, beef or chicken. Another fantastic way to cook butternut is to cut it in half, remove the seeds and fill it with feta or any crumbly cheese (try ricotta with rosemary and generous sprinklings of salt and black pepper and a couple of lashings of olive oil) wrap each half in foil and place skin-side next to the coals. Because the butternut is not whole and heat escapes through the side that has no skin, this can take quite a while so don't wait till the coals are too cold, but bear in mind to make sure that it doesn't burn either. Howerver, if the skin gets blistered (and it's protected buy the foil) this is not a problem. No coals? Just pop them in the oven for 30-45 mins or until tender. Serve with a green salad or baby spinach leaves tossed in a vinaigrette with baby tomato halves.