SERVES 4 (as a side with leftovers, or two as a main)
1 large or 2 smaller squash, such as Butternut, Crown Prince or Kuri (approx 1kg)
1 bulb of garlic
A handful of fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme and bay ~
1.5ltr chicken or veg stock
2 tbsp butter
12 sage leaves (optional)
200g instant cook polenta
75–100g freshly grated cheese, such as parmesan or a nuttier, creamier, fondue-style cheese, like gruyère
1 Preheat your oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6. Put a roasting tin in the oven, on the top shelf, to warm up.
2 Carefully halve your squash. Scoop out the seeds and discard (or save for roasting or grow to make pumpkin microgreens). Season the squash. Halve the garlic bulb horizontally. Tuck the garlic halves and herbs in the ‘bowl’ of the squash. Slide into the oven and roast for 45 mins, or until the squash is tender and nicely coloured. Check a few times during cooking. Remove the garlic once it’s squeezably tender as it may finish cooking before the squash.
3 Once the squash is cooked, bring your stock to a simmer in a saucepan. Scoop the squash flesh out, discarding the herbs. Squeeze the roasted garlic from the skins. Mash the squash and garlic with the back of a fork; set aside.
4 Heat a large saucepan or pot. Add 2 tbsp butter. Gently fry the sage leaves in the melted butter until just crisp. Remove the leaves with a fork, leaving any residual butter in the pan.
5 Add the polenta and half of the simmering stock to the sage buttered pan or pot. Whisk until smooth, slowly adding more stock until it’s a nice texture – like a creamy maize porridge. Fold in the mashed garlicky squash and most of the grated cheese. Add more stock to ensure a smooth, creamy consistency, as needed.
6 Take off the heat if it thickens too quickly. Pour the polenta into dishes or on to a platter. Top with crispy sage leaves, extra pepper and the remaining cheese.
Cook’s note: While heavenly with autumnal game or red meat dishes, you could also serve this as a vegetarian main (just check that your cheese has vegetarian rennet).
This polenta recipe is from our regular Home Economics series by Rachel de Thample. The feature includes a recipe for Polenta Gnocchi, which you can make with the leftovers from your roasted squash polenta, as well as a raft of ideas using autumnal venison, mushrooms, hazelnuts and more.
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