I love roasting squash and fennel as it really brings out their sweet notes. I leave the skin on my butternut squash to add in extra fibre and nutrients. The blue cheese adds a nice acidity and goes well with the sweet squash flesh. The dressing is nice and creamy, the preserved lemon really packs a punch of flavour. This is a really nicely balanced dish using in season produce.

Ingredients (serves 2)

For the roasted squash and fennel

• 1 small butternut squash, sliced into 1cm slices
• 1 fennel bulb, quartered
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• sprig of thyme, roughly chopped
• good pinch of sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 lemon, halved

For the dressing

• 1/2 preserved lemon, roughly chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tbsp ground almonds
• 2 tbsp oil (I used walnut)
• 1 tsp honey
• pinch of sea salt
• splash of water if needed to loosen

To serve

• small bag of rocket leaves
• 60g soft blue cheese
• 2 tbsp toasted flaked almonds

Directions

1. Pre heat oven to 200 degrees fan.
2. Place the squash, fennel and lemon halves on a lined baking tray, drizzle over the oil, thyme and seasoning, mix well with your hands to coat all the vegetables well. Bake for 30 minutes or until soft.
3. Make the dressing by adding all of the ingredients into a jar or bowl. Squeeze in the roasted lemon halves then shake or whisk to combine.
4. To serve, share the rocket leaves between 2 serving bowls, add the roasted squash and fennel. Crumb over the blue cheese and sprinkle of the almonds, finish off by drizzling over the dressing. Enjoy.