Delicata squash with sardines
Ingredients:
- a delicata squash (22-24 oz. / 650 g), cut in half lengthwise, seeds and strings removed (a grapefruit spoon is my favorite tool to do this)
- olive oil
- a medium shallot, finely chopped
- leaves from a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme
- sea salt
- freshly milled black pepper
- 2 tablespoons currants or small raisins
- one or two canned sardines (see below)
Heat the oven to 375 F. Place the delicata squash, cut side down, on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat. Bake the squash 30-35 minutes, or until soft. Once cool, scoop the flesh out of the skin (a grapefruit spoon is useful for this step as well) and mash with a fork.
Place currants in a ramekin and cover with lukewarm water. Warm up a bit of olive oil in a small frying pan. Add shallot and thyme leaves and cook until the shallot is soft. Add a bit of broth or water from the currants to keep shallot moist. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Add cooked shallot and drained currants to the squash and mix.
If sardines are preserved in olive oil or water, drain them. If sardines are preserved in something else, like the marinara sauce in my case, there is no need to drain them. If you like, yYou can actually add a bit of the preserving sauce to the sardines as you mash them. How many sardines is up to you: I added a rather large one the first time and two the second time.
Open up each sardine, remove the central bone and mash with a fork. Add mashed sardines to the squash and mix well. Adjust salt and pepper and serve.