Butternut squash…

…what would I do without you? So easy to peel and cut compared to kabocha and most pumpkin, so quick to cook, and so many recipes possible. I can’t help buying one every time I see some at the farmers market. It suits so very well all types of dishes, Italian, Japanese etc… So what did I do with last time? Some autumn spread! Enough of eggplants, chickpeas or yogurt speads summer spreads but Yes! for a butternut squash autumn version.

Butternut squash spread

– 1 butternut squash

– salt, pepper, pumpkin spices (cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, clove)

Simply peel the butternut squash and remove the seeds, cut it into large chunks and steam or boil it. Once it is soft, with a fork just mash it. Add a bit of butter if you like. Add salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and clove. Stir well to obtain a purée. That’s it!!!! Eat with freshly baked bread or crackers for a killer experience!

Zucchini spread

I really love “aperitif” time, this moment before diner when you can have a sit, sip a fresh drink and eat a few things. It is for me part of the dinner, so anytime we have aperitif, diner is much lighter: a salad, a soup… I love to prepare snacks for that moment that are tasty and healthy (no peanuts/potato chips at home) and vegetable spreads are always a good option when I prepare baguette. They are very easy to prepare and variations never make them boring. When in a hurry the avocado spread is the best, when I have more time and I have adequate veggies I can prepare new things. This time I had big zucchinis so I cutted one in big chuncks, put them in a pan and cooked under cover at medium eat without adding water, oil nor anything, I also keep the skin for a vibrant green spread. Once the zucchini is soft, I drained them well and blended them to puree. Add a very little bit of olive oil, and seasonned with plenty of thyme. Served with frshly baked baguette and a bit of fresh ricotta (from a local farm) with salt and pepper. Addictive!

Mushroom spread

Once I’ve made a delicious bread, I like to eat with different things and I really love vegan spreads because it’s an easy way to prepare and keep veggies for a few days. I’ve had in mind making some mushroom spread for a long time now, but never did before. But the other day we went for lunch to a nice Japanese macrobiotic cafe and I bought a recipe book where there was a recipe for a spread. So largely inspired by this Japanese recipe, I changed it to suit better my bread. So it turns out being a mushrooms-olives-thyme spread. It’s simple and delicious.

I roughly cut the 150g of mushrooms of all sorts: here fresh shiitake and shimeji, and cook them in a bit of oil. Then in a food processor I mixed the mushroom, pitted black olives (just a large table spoon), salt (adjust the amount depending on the olives), and thyme leaves (3branches, so probably the equivalent to one tea spoon). Add a little of olive oil if necessary, process to puree or chopped as you like. I put the paste in a bin for easy handling. Ready to serve and you can keep it a few days in the fridge. Perfect with my original bread for example!

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