Welcome in the new season with this squash, pancetta and hazelnut salad
Ingredients (serves 4)
• 1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
• 3 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 1 bunch spring onions, cut into short lengths
• 50g hazelnuts, shelled weight
• 300g green beans, cut into short lengths
• 8 rashers pancetta, chopped
• ½ orange, juiced and zest thinly pared
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200C (180 fan) / gas 6. Spread the hazelnuts out on a tray and roast for 8 minutes. Tip them into a clean tea towel or a piece of sturdy kitchen paper and rub vigorously to remove the skins. Leave to cool, then roughly chop.
2. Meanwhile, toss the squash cubes in oil and spread them out in a large roasting tin. Season well with salt and black pepper and roast for 45 minutes, turning occasionally.
3. Add the spring onions to the roasting tin, then return to the oven for 5 minutes or until the squash and onions are just starting to char on the edges.
4. Blanch the beans in boiling salted water for 4 minutes or until cooked al dente, then plunge into cold water to stop the cooking. Drain well.
5. Fry the pancetta until crisp, then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. Pour out all but 1 tbsp of the pancetta fat, then whisk in the orange juice, zest and vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then toss with the rest of the ingredients. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Find it in Hampshire
• Pancetta - Ambrose Sausages, Bishopstoke, 02380 620984; ambrosesausages.co.uk
• Vegetables - Sopley Salads, Christchurch, 01425 674150
• Rapeseed oil - Pratt’s Food, Andover, 07760 122815; prattsfood.co.uk
More…
• 7 of the best Hampshire butchers - From award-winning sausages and cowboy steaks, to the rise of the humble faggot - Hampshire’s traditional butcher shops offer locally-sourced meat, delicious produce and a wealth of knowledge says Natalie French
