For the First Time Ever! A Recipe on Londonelicious…

 
You know I'm not one for cooking. But when my friend Anna made this butternut squash dish a few years back at Thanksgiving, I had to have the recipe. I'm a sucker for butternut squash. And blue cheese. And pecans. (PEEcans, you say. pehCAHNS say I.) Easy, said Anna. Nigella.

So for the first time ever here on my London restaurant blog, I present you with–hold your breath–a RECIPE.

My dish definitely doesn't look as nice as Nigella's–I really should have crumbled the blue cheese a bit more and thank God for Photoshop and being able to clean my Corning Ware through the magic of computers–but here's the gist of how you pull it all together.

The Shopping List

• Firstly, don't buy 2 kilos of real butternut squash like I did. They will be a bitch to cut up and who has that much time? Instead, look for pre-cut bags of butternut squash. I found mine at Waitrose. (350g per bag, so you might want to buy like six of them.)
• Then, buy about 150 grams of blue cheese. I use Roquefort, as directed by Nigella.
• You're also going to need about 150 grams of pecans. I've tried making this with both the plain roasted and the salted roasted pecans, and I definitely prefer making this with the salted roasted. I also like a lot of pecans, so I throw in some extra.
• You also will need some thyme. As much as you'd like. (Nigella recommends four stalks, but I found this too paltry.)
• Oh, and don't forget the olive oil and maybe some more salt.

The Cooking Bit

• Get out a roasting pan. Throw butternut squash in.
• Add as much thyme as you'd like.
• Sprinkle with healthy dollop of olive oil.
• Roast for at least 30 minutes. If you leave it in longer, the squash will get a bit more golden and crispy, which I personally like. Let rest for a bit. (If you don't, the Roquefort will melt.)

Final Preparation
After the squash has rested, throw in the pecans and the blue cheese. Maybe add some more thyme and some more salt. You want to throw everything together, but if the mixture is too hot, you could wind up just mashing everything together, which you don't want. So go gently. Enjoy!