A New Recipe For Squash

Recently, Mr PF Editor came home with some unexpected vegetable gifts.

We have neighbours across the road who are very generous with the surplus produce from their garden, and they frequently leave lovely home-grown veg on their doorstep with a message inviting people to help themselves. When he saw this huge yellow courgette and interesting looking squash going spare, he picked them up and brought them home.

The courgette was no problem, but I wasn’t even sure what type of squash this was, never mind how to cook it. Never one to look a gift vegetable in the mouth, I did a bit of research and identified it as the rather prosaically named winter squash. But what to make with it? I turned to my cookery bible, “River Cottage Veg Every Day” by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, and found a recipe for Porotos Granados, a bean and squash stew from Chile. I love having a reason to try new and unusual recipes, and this one turned out to be a winner.

Most of the ingredients I already had in my storecupboard, and there is nothing unusual or expensive required to make this stew. The recipe made four generous portions which provided me with packed lunches to heat in the office microwave for several days. It’s filling, tasty and cheap – especially when the squash is free!