A beautiful vegetarian centre piece to impress friends with when hosting for the masses. The squash crisps up and pairs perfectly with the blue cheese to give those delicious sweet and salty flavours, finished with some shallots and walnuts. A very merry recipe for a very merry meal.

Serves: 4

Cooking time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• Butternut Squash
• 3 tbsp Honey
• 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 tsp Thyme & more for serving
• Sage Leaves
• Handful of Shallots
• Handful of Cranberries
• 2 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 tsp Demerara Sugar
• 75g Walnuts
• 100g Blue Cheese
• Salt and Pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200℃. Start by cutting the butternut squash directly down the middle of the squash lengthways, spooning out the seeds and peeling. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and put in the oven for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, combine the honey, mustard, oil, and finely chopped thyme together forming a paste.
3. After the 30 minutes, remove the squash from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes until cool enough to be handled.
4. Get a wooden spoon and lay it down along the side of the squash. Use a sharp knife to begin cutting through the squash until the knife hits the wooden spoon, resulting in the squash being cut most of the way down its body, but not entirely.
5. Repeat this neatly cutting very closely together, ensuring the knife never goes further than the wooden spoon so all the slices remain intact.
6. Repeat for both halves of the squash, and brush with 1/3 of the honey and mustard paste.
7. Add 6 tbsp of water to the baking tray and return to the oven for 25 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, begin prepping the shallots by peeling and put on a low heat with a little oil, softening them for about 15 minutes before adding the balsamic vinegar and sugar.
9. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes, until just falling apart and going golden.
10. Once the squash is ready to come out of the oven again, baste in the cooking liqueur removing any excess liqueur from the bottom of the tray.
11. Brush the squash with the remaining honey and mustard mixture, and toss the shallots on top of and around the squash, along with the walnuts, cranberries, blue cheese, and sprigs of thyme.
12. Return to the oven for 15 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the squash is golden. Scatter with a little sage and thyme to serve.

Serving Note: Best served with tenderstem broccoli listening to Elton John with a glass of bubbles to accompany it.