- 2 butternut squash
- 200g (roughly) smoked bacon lardons, pancetta or other smoked pig product
- 2 red onions
- olive oil
- 1 ancho or chipotle chilli, finely chopped
- a decent drizzle of sherry vinegar
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2-3 sprigs thyme
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed
- sea salt, peppercorns
- Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
- Dice up the butternut into 2cm cubes. Cut the onions into eighth wedges, separating each segment into its layers.
- Throw the butternut, onion and bacon into a roasting tray. Toss through the olive oil, thyme, garlic, season and ancho or chipotle
- Roast until the butternut is tender and caramelising at the edges, the onion is jammy and the bacon dark.
- Remove from the oven and dress with the sherry vinegar and honey. Move everything until it's all coated and tweak until the balance between sour and sweet is as you want it.
- Either serve as it, toss through couscous, pasta or rice, leave to go cold and eat as the best workbox lunch you'll ever have. Feel free to amp up the heat, garlic or sweetness, or add smoked paprika, cinnamon, chicken stock and a blender to make soup...