Kenny Tutt's butter roasted squash with whipped goat's cheese, watercress pesto & Melefsis thyme honey

Guild of Fine Food

Guild of Fine Food

Standard Supplier 19th March 2019
Guild of Fine Food

Guild of Fine Food

Standard Supplier

Kenny Tutt's butter roasted squash with whipped goat's cheese, watercress pesto & Melefsis thyme honey

Created by 2018 Masterchef champion Kenny Tutt for the Guild of Fine Food's Fine Food Show North, this beautifully simple but impressive recipe using Great Taste award-winning thyme honey from Melefsis Honey and pumpkin seed oil from Best of Hungary.
Kenny cooked this recipe live on our demo stage at this year's Fine Food Show North in front of a live audience.

Ingredients

  • - 1 butternut squash or small pumpkin
  • - 150-200g of soft goat's cheese
  • - 50g cream cheese
  • - 2* Great Taste award-winning thyme honey from Melefsis Honey
  • - 3* Great Taste award-winning pumpkin seed oil from Best of Hungary
  • - Handful of pine nuts
  • - Bunch of watercress
  • - 100g parmesan or similar hard cheese
  • - 1 clove of garlic
  • - Sprig of thyme
  • - 100g unsalted butter
  • - Salt & pepper
  • - Splash of olive oil
  • - Baby rocket to garnish

Method

1. Preheat the oven at 190c (fan) or 200c (non-fan).
2. Deseed the squash and cut into good size wedges just over an inch thick.
3. Using an ovenproof pan, melt the butter with a drizzle of olive oil and brown the squash for 3-4 minutes each side and season with salt & pepper.
4. Cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes until soft & golden.
5. Place goat's cheese and cream cheese in a whipping bowl and add a dash of olive oil. Beat well by hand or using an electric mixer. Season with some black pepper. (Don't use salt as it can split the cheese). Place in the fridge to chill.
6. Make the pesto by toasting the dry pine nuts in a pan or in the oven until lightly coloured. Roughly chop the garlic and add to a blender with a handful of watercress, pine nuts and finely grated parmesan. Pulse the mixture and then drizzle the pumpkin seed oil to give you a fairly loose pesto that will fall off a spoon. Finish with a little seasoning of salt to taste. Cover and place in the fridge.
7. Build the plate by adding a good spoonful of pesto in the centre of the plate. Place the squash on top and a generous spoonful of the whipped goat's cheese onto the warm squash. Drizzle with thyme honey and garnish with some baby rocket.

In these challenging times…

The Staff Canteen team are taking a different approach to keeping our website independent and delivering content free from commercial influence. Our Editorial team have a critical role to play in informing and supporting our audience in a balanced way. We would never put up a paywall  – The Staff Canteen is open to all and we want to keep bringing you the content you want; more from younger chefs, more on mental health, more tips and industry knowledge, more recipes and more videos. We need your support right now, more than ever, to keep The Staff Canteen active. Without your financial contributions this would not be possible.

Over the last 16 years, The Staff Canteen has built what has become the go-to platform for chefs and hospitality professionals. As members and visitors, your daily support has made The Staff Canteen what it is today. Our features and videos from the world’s biggest name chefs are something we are proud of. We have over 560,000 followers across Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and other social channels, each connecting with chefs across the world. Our editorial and social media team are creating and delivering engaging content every day, to support you and the whole sector - we want to do more for you.

A single coffee is more than £2, a beer is £4.50 and a large glass of wine can be £6 or more.

Support The Staff Canteen from as little as £1 today. Thank you.