Cheese and chili squash and sweetcorn

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This dish makes a wonderful vegetarian meal or an interesting starter for dipping vegetables.

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash
• 200 g (7 oz) sweetcorn kernels
• 110 g (4 oz) cream cheese
• 1 fresh green chili, deseeded and cut into thin rings
• Handful of freshly chopped parsley
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Peel the squash with a speed peeler.
2. Cut in half length ways and scrape the seeds out with an ice-cream scoop or a spoon.
3. Cut the flesh into 2.5 cm (1 ") cubes
4. Add to a pan and cover with boiling water and boil for 10 minutes until the squash starts to become soft..
5. Add the sweetcorn and boil for another 5 minutes
6. Drain well, return to the pan and mix in the cream cheese and chillies.
7. Blend to a paste with a hand liquidiser or mash really well.
8. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
9. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve.

Variations

We make this with a variety of squashes, not just the butternut squash.

Use mascarpone cheese or crème fraîche instead of cream cheese.

Chef's tip

If using very small squashes, rather than peeling them, wash them, cut them in half, deseed them and boil them without peeling. Scoop out the flesh once soft.