RECIPE: Squash, chard and couscous bake - Marshfood Organic Food

This is a hearty, filling midweek dish that delivers the recommended five-a-day vegetable quota.

October always is a good month for squash, especially with the Halloween pumpkins around. I used a butternut for this but any type will do, as long as it is thinly sliced.

It is also nice to see the chard recovering after the extremely dry weather this summer when it was hardly growing at all. I have used the last of the tomatoes in this as well, but a can will do if you don’t have any from the garden to use up.

The smoked harissa paste adds a deeper flavour but if it is not available, use normal harissa plus two teaspoons of smoked paprika. Serves three to four.

Ingredients:

270g squash

140g onion

250g chard (about 140g leaves and 110g stalks)

10g garlic

Half a stick of celery

Small jar chickpeas about 250 drained weight

2 tablespoons smoked harissa paste

5 tablespoons olive oil

250g couscous

1 egg

75g grated cheese

salt to taste

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

First prepare the vegetables. Peel and cut the squash into very thin slices – I used about 30. Finely slice the onion and celery and dice the garlic.

Separate the green leaves from the stalks of the chard. Make ribbons from the leaves and slice the stalks so that they are about the same width as the chickpeas.

Cut the tomatoes in half and remove the stalky bits. Place them cut side down in a heatproof dish, cover and microwave for five minutes. As soon as they have cooled down enough, remove the skins and chop the flesh.

Put a pan of water on a high heat and when it comes to the boil, put the squash slices in it. Blanche for two minutes, timed from when it returns to boiling. Remove the slices with a slotted spoon and put them in a bowl of cold water to stop them cooking. Reserve the cooking liquid. Drain them when cool and set aside.

Place the couscous in a bowl and add one cup of the squash cooking liquid (which should be hot) and two tablespoons of the olive oil. Stir well and cover with a plate. Note – this is less liquid than is normally used as it will absorb liquid from the sauce.

Put the onions with two tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and stir and fry until translucent. Add the garlic, celery and chard stalks and just enough squash cooking liquid to cover and cook until soft.

Add the chard leaf ribbons and cook a few minutes more. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas and the smoked harissa paste. Turn until well mixed and season with salt to taste.

Set the oven to 180ºC.

Grease an oven-proof dish (I used a 24cm square tin) and spread a third of the couscous on the bottom. Cover with a layer of squash pieces and, using a slotted spoon to leave the liquid in the pan, cover with half the chard, tomato and chickpea mix. Add another layer of squash on top and then the rest of the chard mixture, followed by the last of the squash.

Beat the egg in a small bowl and add the pan juices. Mix into the remaining couscous and spread on top of the squash layer. Sprinkle with the grated cheese and the remaining tablespoon olive oil and cover.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes then remove the cover. Bake for a further 15 minutes, then serve.