Page And Moyse

Whats in Season

What to eat in January and Febuary

Feb 11th 2015

After all the excessise of December like most people I like to get back to cooking more simple food that does not require you to spend hours locked away in the kitchen.

January and February are some of the best months to try British homegrown vegetables.

Even if you are not vegeratian they can be incorporated into a diverse range of dishes, from simple soups for a cold winters day, risotto or even currys.

Roasted root vegetables work brilliantly with maybe a simple roast chicken or my favourite at the moment is a open tart topped with roasted butternut squash, red onions and maybe some crumbled blue cheese or goats cheese to finish.

Recipe for Roasted butternut squash Tart with red onions and blue cheese:

Serves four

1 medium butternut squash

2 large red onions peeled and thinly sliced

Creme fraiche or cream cheese for the base

1 block of puff pastry shop bought is fine for this

Small handfull of fresh sage leaves or Rosmary works well

Garlic to taste

A soft blue cheese I like Dolecelatte

Olive oil or rapseed oil for frying

Salt and pepper

Method

Pre -heat your oven to 180c

First prepare your squash the easiest way to do this is cut in half and scoop out the seeds, then cut each half into pieces leaving the skin on. Rub the squash with a little olive oil and season lightly roast in a pre heated oven until brown and soft. This usually takes about 30 minutes depeding on how big you cut the squash. When cooked leave it to cool.

Now prepare your pastry

The easiest way to roll out your pastry is by placing the pastry directly onto a large piece of baking parchment. Sprinkle flour onto your rolling pin.

Then roll out to the desired size to fit your baking tray. You can then lift the pastry straight onto your baking tray.

With a knife score a 1 cm border in from the edge this will give your tart some shape when it cooks. Prick only the middle of the pastry. Place into the oven for about 15 minutes until golden brown. Be carfull not to let the pastry become too dark at this stage as you need to return to the oven a little later. 

Once cook leave to cool

In a large frying pan drizzle in a small amount of olive oil, add your onions with a teaspoon of sugar, add a large clove of garlic finley chopped and cooked very gently until really soft and almost caramalized. This is the secret to getting a really fantastic flavour into your onions.

Add in a small tsp of fresh chopped sage if you are using this ingredient, leave to cool slightly in the pan until you are ready to assemble the tart.

Spread 1-2 tablespoons of creme fraiche or cream cheese onto the base topped with the cooled onion mixtue. Then remove the skin from the roasted squash and cut into small bite size pieces and scatter over the tart. Crumble the cheese you are using over the top.

Drizzle the tart with a little more olive oil and bake the tart in the oven for about 15 minutes at 180° or until the pastry is crisp and golden-brown. Enjoy!