Butternut squash dip

This dip is a great alternative to hummus. It is much lighter than hummus, and will undoubtedly leave you reaching for more - but that doesn't matter as there is nothing bad which goes into this. It goes great with lightly salted tortilla chips, but can be enjoyed equally as much with numerous other dippers. Whatever you like to eat your hummus with, you will be able to eat this with too.

It is very easy to make, but does take a while as you have to cook the butternut squash and then leave to cool, so don't expect it to be ready within a few minutes of starting. I like to cook the squash a few hours before I want to make the dip, and just leave it on the side to slowly and fully cool whilst I go about my day. 

Ingredients

1 large butternut squash

1/2 tsp salt

3 tbsp tahini

4 tbsp greek yoghurt

2 cloves of garlic

olive oil

To serve:

handful fresh coriander

poppy seeds or sesame seeds

Add an extra clove of garlic if you love garlic (like me!)

Turn the oven on to 180◦C. Peel your butternut squash and cut off the ends. Butternut squash can be extremely difficult and awkward to cut, so be careful. Even though the skin is tough, it can be easily peeled with a good peeler.

Chop your peeled butternut squash into chunks. Place in a roasting tray, cover with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Cover the tray with tinfoil, and put in the oven for 1 hour. Ensure it is cooked by putting a knife through a piece. It should easily glide in and out. When they come out, they will not look much different to when they went in. The picture below is after 1 hour of cooking. They will not brown due to being covered in tin foil. 

Allow to cool completely. 

Once cooled, transfer to a food processor, or a bowl if using a hand mixer. Crush your garlic or finely chop, and add in with the squash along with the tahini and greek yoghurt. 

Blitz until it is a coarse paste, ensuring there are no remaining lumps of squash. 

To serve, transfer into a bowl of your choice and sprinkle your seeds over the top. Finely chop up your fresh coriander and add to finish. 

You can store the dip in a airtight container in the fridge for a few days (this recipe makes quite a lot). I prefer to take it out of the fridge for 15 minutes before eating so it can warm up a bit. 

If you find yourself getting bored of hummus, or if you don't like hummus, then you should definitely give this a go. It's one of those foods where the flavour takes a couple of seconds to fully hit you, but when it does, it sure is good.