Butternut Squash, Chicken & Gruyere Bake

Butternut Squash bake and parsley salad.Photograph: Aidan Crawley
Butternut Squash bake and parsley salad.Photograph: Aidan Crawley
Serves: 6
Course: Main Course
Cooking Time: 1 hr 0 mins

Ingredients

  • Serves 6<br>8 boned chicken thighs or 4 breasts – skinless and cut into large chunks
  • 5 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 onions, sliced
  • 1 butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and cut into 1-cm rounds
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 250ml double cream
  • Big bunch fresh thyme
  • 1 dsp fennel seeds
  • 50g Gruyère cheese, grated

In a saucepan, heat the olive oil and quickly brown the chicken pieces for about three minutes, then set them aside. Add the onions and garlic into the pot and cook over a medium heat until they’re just starting to soften.

Next, cut the squash rounds in half to make crescents. Then, in a large bowl, mix together the chicken, sliced squash, cream, thyme, fennel and the garlic and onion mixture and season well. Decant the lot into a gratin dish, sprinkle the cheese over the top and bake at 180 degrees/gas 4 for 35-45 minutes, until bubbling and golden. Serve with the parsley salad.

Domini Kemp

Domini Kemp

Domini Kemp, a contributor to The Irish Times, is a chef and food writer