By the time work was finished on Friday an Autumn cold had taken hold of me. I don’t ‘do’ illness very well, so when N asked me if I wanted anything from the supermarket (expecting the usual “box of tissues, vix and cold capsules” request) I rather surprised him by saying “yes please – butternut squash, sage, garlic and courgette!” I was craving Autumn comfort food!
You see about a month ago The Londoner posted a recipe for Pumpkin and Sage Courgetti and I’d immediately had an idea for an adaptation that I wanted to try. Suddenly this weekend it was all I could think about as I knew it would be cosy and flavourful; like a big hug in a bowl.
It also gave me a good excuse to try out my new spiralizer. I’d been using a julienne peeler to make vegetable pasta for a year with no complaints but couldn’t resist a special offer to pick up the gadget for only £2!
So here is my version of the ultimate guilt free Autumn comfort food.
Half a butternut squash
1 courgette
1 or 2 garlic cloves (I chucked in two – I WAS ill after all)
Salt and pepper
A handful of sage leaves
Olive oil
1 sweet red pepper
Half a packet of cubed pancetta
Half a vegetable stock cube
100ml water
2 tablespoons cream
Half a roll of goat’s cheese
…it’s not the prettiest dish ever created, but it did make me feel better. So much better in fact that I cooked the other half of the squash in another batch the following day!
What is your go to comfort food when you’re ill? Have you tried vegetable pasta?