Squash Toast
June 10 2020
·
Written By Matthew Ravenscroft
June 10 2020
·
Written By Matthew Ravenscroft
1/2 squash (really any kind will do, I like a kabocha for this)
1 head garlic
1/2 lemon
2 roma tomatoes
1 red onion, diced
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1 teaspoon paprika
crunchy garnish - in my case, pumpkin seeds and crispy chickpeas
picked herbs
nice bread
1. Preheat oven to 425f. Cut squash into 1/2 - add 1/2 head of garlic + a half of lemon. Season with salt, turmeric, paprika + olive oil and place in the oven.
2. Cook for 20 minutes, or until tender (and now set it to broil) - remove from the oven and let it cool slightly. Scoop the squash from the skin, add into a bowl with the garlic, a squeeze of the roasted lemon, paprika + turmeric. Mash it up with a bit of extra olive oil until it is smooth (with a bit of texture still)
3) Cover, place in fridge and let it relax a bit; while you’re doing that - dice one red onion, and place it in a pan with enough vinegar to cover (I use cider). Put the pan on high heat (the highest), cook the onions until there is no longer any more vinegar (or almost). Put it in a bowl and pop it in the fridge. Congrats, you just made onion vierge.
4) Now comes the salsa cruda (see below). Dice the tomatoes (keep the seeds or don’t - you’re in control here), combine it with a splash of oil, paprika + your now cooled onion vierge. With the garlic, microplane/mash the garlic into the cruda. If you don’t have a microplane - first, buy one; but while you wait, smash the garlic, add a pinch salt over and rough chop it, then turn your knife horizontally and mash it in a circular motion. Then add this into your salsa. Adjust salt accordingly. This is really an experience based in your taste preferences - there is no “right” amount of salt, lime or oil, taste it a lot. This just gets better the longer it sits.
Salsa Cruda
1/2 cup of diced onion (red, or even a shallot is great)
1/2 cup of vinegar, red, cider or white is fine
3 tomatoes, diced
* (I like cherry tomatoes, but use what you have!) or 1 pint of cherry tomatoes, cut in half
2 cloves of garlic
Paprika, to taste
Salt, to taste
Oil, to taste (avocado oil is great, but olive oil is fine)
5) With oven at broil, cut bread to desired thickness - add a good amount of mashed squash onto bread. Now add olive oil + thick seasoning salt and place under broiler for 3 minutes (until the bread is charred on the sides).
6) Remove from oven, add salsa cruda + some of those pickled onions, along with something crunchy (seeds, nuts, crispy chickpeas, it's your show!) and some picked herbs.
