The Flavour Thesaurus
Butternut Squash, Bean and Rosemary Stew (Butternut Squash & Rosemary)
Page 231
Cuisine: English/Scottish | Course Type: Main Courses
Tags: vegetarian pumpkin beans butternut squash
Recipe Reviews
friederike from Berlin,
It's kind of ironic that she gushes about how well roasted butternut squash and rosemary go together, because the butternut squash in this recipe isn't roasted but cooked, and the rosemary is too weak to taste. It's really a pity. I like the idea of this dish, but I think it would work a lot better if you do actually roast the pumpkin, and use at least three twigs of rosemary, if not more, and possibly some garlic as well.
Next time I would also use fresh tomatoes (cherry tomatoes or normal ones) but not canned, as canned tomatoes usually contain flavour enhancers, and therefore turned out too strong in this dish. I can see that fresh tomatoes might not be thick enough, as bunyip mentions; perhaps that you need to fry them first to let some of the liquid evaporate.
Last, I missed more texture. We did the parmesan-bread crumb topping, but still I also need something within the stew, otherwise it's all just one big mush. Perhaps some chopped and roasted nuts, or pumpkin seeds, or bacon for the non-vegetarians.
Because we couldn't get hold on cannellini beans, we used white haricot beans. If you don't mind the work, you might also use dried beans and them cook them until they're al dente, though I have little experience with that.
bunyip from Melbourne, VIC
You can't rush the cooking of this. I have made this with a tin of cherry tomatoes as per the recipe, and with a tin of chopped tomatoes. I prefer the latter, the resulting stew is thicker.
Anything to use some rosemary, the one herb we really grow successfully!
NB I cannot give the page number, I'm using the Kindle edition.
Login or register to add your own review of this recipe.