What do you do when you are stuck with a bunch of grapes past their “best by” date? Other than cooking jam or making a fruit cobbler? Have a quick look on the Internet whether anyone else has had the mad notion of combining grapes with butternut, which was my only semi-reasonable option. And yes, it has been done! So here is my version:
Ingredients:
2 servings
1 cup butternut squash cubes (2cm)
2 spring onions, chopped (half a white or red onion will do as well)
a handful of grapes (preferable seedless; black grapes look beautiful, white will do as well)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
a few cubes of feta cheese
a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
rosemary – don’t skimp here. (30ml chopped fresh or 15ml dry)
Method:
Roasting brings out the sweetness of the butternut and the slight acidity of the grapes, which goes quite well with most meat dishes, especially pork.
- Preheat oven to 200ºC (375ºF)
- Soften the butternut cubes in the micro for about 3 minutes or fry them slightly in15-30 ml olive oil
- Add butternut, grapes, chopped onion and chopped rosemary to an oven-proof dish, drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat
- Season with salt and a liberal dose of freshly ground black pepper
- Roast for 20-30 minutes, stirring once or twice, till the butternut is soft throughout and nicely caramelized.
- Add the cubes of (or crumbled) Feta cheese halfway through
- Serve hot as a side dish or even as a light vegetarian meal, adding blanched fine green beans or fresh rocket.
Notes:
Next time I’ll try it with Secuan pepper
Or even a dash of chilli!