squash and celeriac bake (for three)

Comfort food, comfort food, comfort food: repeat this mantra as much as necessary through the winter months. But that doesn’t mean diving into macaroni and cheese (much as we’d all like to).

Instead, it means using those healthy, low-calorie root vegetables to their best.

Last night, I planned a one-pot dish with two of my favourite root vegetables, squash and celeriac. I’ve seen other combinations – parsnip and celeriac, parsnip and squash, and so on. But I fancied something a bit more savoury, but with the lovely orange colour of the squash. So borrowing from some of these, I’ve come up with one to try.

I was worried this veggie dish may not be enough for our dinner guest, but actually, it turned out really well. Only problem was that everyone wanted more:

Squash and celeriac bake
(serves 4)

1 large squash, about 1 kg, peeled and chopped
1 med/large celeriac, about 600 kg, peeled and chopped
Fresh thyme
4 tbsp single cream
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper

For the topping:
2 pieces of whole grain bread, torn into pieces
75 g parmesan, grated
25 grams sliced almonds (though walnuts would work well too)
1 tbsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 195 C. Add the squash to a large pot of water and bring to the boil. After about 2-3 minutes, add the celeriac and boil for about 10 minutes. Drain.

Return the root veg to the pot and add plenty of fresh thyme, the single cream, 1 tbsp of olive oil and plenty of salt and pepper. Mash well.

Spray an oven-proof dish with olive oil spray and add the mash mixture. Spread evenly.

To make the topping, combine the bread pieces, almonds, olive oil, parmesan and salt and pepper in a food processor or use a hand blender. Scatter the topping evenly across the root vegetable mash. Bake for about 30 minutes.

Serve with a mixed side salad with balsamic dressing.

Calories: 435 per serving.

I absolutely adored this dish – it felt so good to try something new and just love it. I would definitely make it again. It was filling, but not too filling, and the salad with a balsamic dressing cut through the savoury bake just perfectly.

This dish would be excellent for lunch at a brasserie.

And though it’s no brasserie, I took the leftovers (I say leftovers, though it was intentional) for lunch today. Lunch was fantastic.