Squash, Chestnut and Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries Bake

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180^oC / 160^oC Fan / 350^oF / Gas Mark 4.

Heat the rapeseed oil in a large pan or casserole dish on a medium heat hob. Next add in your onions and cook for a few minutes until softened. Add the squash to the pan and stir through. Allow this to cook for further 5-6 minutes, allowing the squash to become golden brown on the edges. Make sure you stir frequently as you need to make sure the squash doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

To the pan add the leeks and rosemary and season well. Once the leeks have started to soften add the chestnuts and lentils. Once that is all combined, remove from the heat and keep the pan to one side.

To make the breadcrumbs for the recipe, pop 2-3 slices of bread into a food processor and whizz for a few seconds. You will need around 100g of breadcrumbs for this recipe. We like to use a seeded loaf to make our breadcrumbs, but do use whatever you have available.

Add the breadcrumbs into the slightly cooled squash mixture, crumble over 150g of the Wensleydale with Cranberries and add the beaten egg. Stir the whole mixture together until completely combined.

Line a 20cm round cake tin with baking paper. Spoon in the squash mixture little by little, firmly pressing it down with each layer to hold it all together. Once all the mixture is in the tin, smooth off the top so it is perfectly level, and equally pressed down. Bake in the centre of the oven for 25 minutes.

Once cooked, remove the cake tin from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes to settle. When you are ready to serve, run a palette knife around the edge of the baking paper to loosen. Place a plate on the top and quickly flip over and turn out the squash bake onto the plate. Drizzle a little runny honey over the bake, crumble the remaining cheese onto the top and finally add a fresh sprig of rosemary to serve.