Mid Week Eat: Blue Squash Gnocchi

It’s easy to eat seasonally with a whole lazy Sunday and 6 hours to roast a joint ahead of you. It’s more difficult when you get in from work late and all you want to do is order a pizza. My Mid-Week-Eats recipes are all quick, really easy and made mostly using ingredients you’ll already have in your cupboards. No trailing round various health food shops to source a weird paste anymore.

Although this one isn't much of a looker, I promise it tastes a lot better than it photographs!This is one of Dan's recipes, so it's slightly more technical than than some my previous more 'bung it in' Mid Week Eats, but it can still be done in half an hour. The most important thing is that these flavours (squash, stilton, gnocchi) are da bomb together, so however you do it just get it on your taste buds.Makes 2 portionsHalf a butternut squash, peeled and diced into bitesized piecesOnion/shallots (optional)Chopped bacon (optional)GnocchiCreme fraiche/Quark (approx 250ml tub)Blue cheese (as much or as little as you like)Lemon juice

1. Start your gnocchi boiling - keep an eye on it and take it off the heat as soon as it floats to the top
2. Heat oil in a pan until it is piping hot. If you think it's hot enough, give it more time - this is vital for stopping your butternut squash becoming butternut slush
3. Fry off your squash with garlic for about 10 minutes. Keep it moving so it doesn't burn - you want it nicely caramelised on top
4. Set your squash aside and fry off your bacon and onion (if using). Mix with the squash when ready.
5. If you want to be chef-y, drizzle the gnocchi with oil and gently fry it in the pan. This firms it up and stops it sticking together, but it isn't a vital step.
6. Throw your squash, bacon, onion and gnocchi back into the pan with the creme fraiche and blue cheese and heat gently until it simmers
7. Finish with seasoning and lemon juice (it adds a lovely bit of tartness you won't want to go with out)