Eating the seasons - roast squash and radicchio, with white mole and chimichurri

Roast Squash and Radicchio with White Mole, Pomegranate & Chimichurri

A beautiful looking vegetarian main course inspired by the moles (sauces) in Mexico. It is simple to make and even better to eat. The vegetables can be eaten at room temperature or warm, just make sure the mole is warmed in a pan before serving.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 800g Delica, crown prince or acorn squash
• 1 large head of radicchio, cut into 8 wedges through the stem
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• A big handful of sage leaves
• A few sprigs of thyme
• 1 tbsp date molasses

To serve

• Handful of fresh watercress leaves
• 100g pomegranate seeds

For the white mole

• 1 white onion, peeled and cut into 8 wedges
• 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 100g pine nuts & 100g blanched almonds, soaking in 150ml water (for 30 mins)
• ½ tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 ½ tbsp apple cider vinegar
• Salt and white pepper

For the chimichurri

• 1 bunch coriander, leaves and stems chopped
• 3 handfuls of parsley leaves, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
• 1 tsp hot paprika
• ½ tsp cumin seeds, lightly crushed
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 150 ml olive oil
• ½ or 1 red chilli, roughly chopped

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Cut the squash in half, remove the

1. seeds, then cut into slices 15-20mm thick, leaving the skin on. Lay them onto a baking tray. Cut the radicchio into wedges and set aside. Drizzle over the oil on the squash wedges and season with salt and pepper. Then add the sage leaves, sprigs of thyme and the date molasses. Place in the oven for 25 minutes, then adding the radicchio wedges (drizzling them in the final tablespoon of oil as they go in) and cooking for a further 10 - 15 minutes until everything is crisp, caramelized and soft.

1. Meanwhile start on the mole - dry toast the onions and whole garlic cloves in a hot frying pan, shaking and turning them frequently, for eight to 10 minutes, until charred all over and tender in the middle.

1. Lift the soaked nuts out of the water using a slotted into a high powered blender or food processor along with the spices and blitz fine, then add 150ml of the soaking water in a steady stream, blitzing until smooth. A good blender will work wonders here. Remove the skins from the toasted garlic then add the charred onion and garlic, and a teaspoon of sea salt and pepper to taste, and blitz again for at least 40 seconds until you have a really smooth sauce.

1. To make the chimichurri, throw everything except the oil in your food processor or blender and pulse blitz until roughly chopped. Add half of the oil and blitz a little again. Then add the remaining oil along with the roughly chopped chilli and blitz until you have a finely chopped green sauce. Transfer to a small bowl.

1. Spoon the mole onto plates or one large platter and top with the roasted pumpkin, radicchio and crispy sage leaves. Scatter over the fresh watercress leaves, drizzle over the chimichurri and finish with the pomegranate seeds and some extra virgin olive oil.