Cured Squash Recipe: Sam Buckley's Zero-Waste Starter

Cured squash recipe: at Where The Light Gets In in Stockport, chef Sam Buckley cures a whole squash in salt, roasts it in brown butter, then plates it with a sharp sabayon and pickled stems.

Buckley runs a Michelin Green Star kitchen built on a rooftop garden and one rule: every part of a vegetable earns its place on the plate. His dish splits one squash into three elements, flesh, trim and stem, so nothing goes in the bin.

This cured squash recipe uses a technique usually kept for meat and fish: dry-curing. Salt and sugar draw water from the flesh by osmosis, firming it so it browns instead of steaming. This version keeps Buckley's three-part structure, swapping his walk-in fridge for an hour on the counter.

Buckley turns squash trim into three courses, so nothing from the box goes to waste.

Ingredients

• 1 whole Crown Prince or onion squash, about 1.2 kg, with stems or leaves if attached
• 30 g fine sea salt
• 60 g caster sugar, divided
• 80 g unsalted butter
• 10 sage leaves
• 2 egg yolks
• 50 ml dry white wine
• 30 g cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 100 ml cider vinegar
• 100 ml water
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 50 g hard cheese, such as aged Lancashire, finely grated
• Flaky salt and black pepper, to finish

Method

1. Halve the squash, scoop out the seeds and cut the flesh into eight wedges. Trim the stems or leaves for the pickle.
2. Rub the wedges with the salt and 20 g sugar, then chill 1 hour. The cure draws out moisture by osmosis, so the flesh browns instead of steaming in the pan.
3. Rinse and pat the wedges dry. Melt the butter with sage until nutty and golden, then lay in the wedges skin-side down.
4. Sear 4 minutes a side, then roast at 180°C (350°F) for 20-25 minutes until a knife meets no resistance. The oven cooks the dense flesh evenly without burning the butter.
5. Blanch the sliced stems 1 minute and pack into a jar. Boil the vinegar, water, remaining 40 g sugar and coriander seeds, then pour hot over the stems so they pickle while staying crisp.
6. Whisk the yolks, wine and lemon juice over barely simmering water until pale and doubled, about 5 minutes. Off the heat, whisk in the cold butter cube by cube; gentle heat cooks the yolks without scrambling them.
7. Plate the wedges, spoon over the sabayon, then scatter with pickled stems and grated cheese. Serve at once, since the sabayon deflates within minutes.

Storing and Serving This Cured Squash Recipe

No squash leaves at hand? Rainbow chard stems pickle the same way. Toast the reserved seeds at 160°C for 15 minutes with oil and salt, then scatter over the top. This cured squash recipe keeps two days, covered, in the fridge; reheat gently, since the sabayon must be made fresh.

Pour a dry English cider or an unoaked orange wine alongside; both cut through the butter without fighting the squash's sweetness. For a related autumn starter, see our quince and Dolcelatte salad recipe.

Can I make this ahead? Cure and roast the squash up to two days ahead, then reheat gently and make the sabayon just before serving.