Roast pumpkin with cheese & bacon

I had planned a vegetarian dish but then I decided to add cheese and bacon and the vegetarian when out of the window. The basic roast pumpkin recipe however, was greatly improved.

A Darina Allen recipe.

Serves: 2 persons (main) or 4 persons (side).

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash
• olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• fresh thyme, sage or rosemary, chopped (I used thyme but a mix of several would have been a good idea)
• 3 slices of bacon
• 50g hard cheese, grated (I used Old Winchester but Pecorino or Parmigiano would do fine)
• parsley to taste, chopped
• soy sauce, mushroom sauce or herb-flavoured oil, to serve

Method:

1. Cut the squash into chunks, skin on.
2. Transfer to a roasting tin and season with salt & pepper. Toss in olive oil. Sprinkle with the chopped herbs and toss again.
   
   
   
3. Roast for 30 min in a 180°C oven, turning occasionally during cooking.
   
   
   
4. Scatter the cheese and flash under the grill until the cheese becomes bubbly and brown.
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Fry the bacon slices until desired crispiness. Cut in bits. I removed the fat strip from the bacon because we don't like it much.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Scatter the bacon bits over the cheese and lots of parsley.
   
   
   
7. To serve, drizzle over soy sauce, mushroom sauce or herb-flavoured oil. I was so hungry I forgot to read this step of the recipe so we had the pumpkin without any extra oil. It was good but I bet the soy sauce would have added to the flavour.