Butternut with Lemon & a Touch of Spice

When Heleen Meyer started working on her recipe book Make five (Maak vyf), this was one of her first recipes she knew she would definitely want to share with readers. The focus of the book is to give readers five ideas for everyday ingredients, like butternut, mushrooms, tomatoes, citrus and more. Many people love butternut, but admit that they get stuck in their way of preparing it.

Adding something sweet to butternut is nothing new, but this version has a lovely twist to it. Strips of lemon rind are mixed with oil, a spoonful or two of soft brown sugar or honey, cinnamon and mixed spice to season the butternut. Once roasted, the lemon rind has a delicious texture and flavour, which will remind you of marmalade. Heleen recommends using a sharp vegetable peeler or vegetable knife to cut even strips of lemon rind. Try to avoid the white pith, as this can become bitter.

The butternut doesn’t need to be peeled – a chore most of us hate to do anyway. Use a medium-sized butternut with a typical bulb or calabash shape. The skin is quite delicious when roasted, or you can just eat the butternut directly from the skin if you don’t fancy eating that. The butternut is first covered and roasted with a little bit of liquid, allowing it to cook without drying out. The second part of the roasting process gives that lovely caramelised flavour.

Try this recipe as is and next time you can be a little more creative – substitute the cinnamon stick with one or two thick slices of fresh ginger. Use an orange instead of lemon or use half a lemon and half an orange for a different flavour combination. Sweet potatoes will be delicious prepared in the same way or even with some of the suggested changes.

Citrus & spiced butternut

Recipe by Heleen Meyer from Make five/Maak vyf

Serves 4

1 small-medium butternut in the skin

1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces

45 ml (3 tbsp) olive oil

30 ml (2 tbsp) soft brown sugar or honey

juice and strips of rind from 1 medium lemon

60 ml (¼ cup) Rooibos tea, orange juice or white wine

5 ml (1 tsp) ground mixed spice

salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Halve the butternut lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Cut in long, thick slices or wedges (keep the skin on).
2. Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a large bowl and season to taste. Place butternut and cinnamon stick pieces in the mixture and toss to coat the butternut with the oil.
3. Arrange the butternut and cinnamon in a single layer in an oven dish. Cover the dish with foil, shiny side towards the food.
4. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 20-30 minutes or until cooked.
5. Serve hot with any meat of your choice. It will be particularly good with pork or roasted chicken.

Image by Neville Lockhart. Visit Heleen’s website for more recipes like this.