Stuffed Tulips

Ingredients

Contains: milk, tree nuts, sesame (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

• 1 butternut squash
• 100g/3½oz olive oil
• 50g/1¾oz sugar
• sprig of thyme
• 100g/3½oz black quinoa
• 50g/1¾oz samphire
• 80g/3oz parmesan
• 1 garlic
• few drops truffle oil
• 4 edible tulips, pale colour
• 100g/3½oz maple syrup
• 300g/11oz verjuice
• 2 lemons
• salt
• 1 raw beetroot
• 2 long shallots
• 10g black sesame seeds
• 10g fennel seeds
• 10g wasabi peas
• 10g sunflower seeds
• 20g puffed rice cereal
• 10g shelled pistachios
• 50g/1¾oz sugar
• 200g/7oz seedless grapes
• 1 nashi
• 50g/1¾oz glaciale leaves or nasturtium
• 1 finger lime, flesh separated into tiny balls

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

1. Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Halve the butternut squash lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, brush the cut sides with a little of the olive oil and roast cut side down for about 40 minutes until tender.

2. Meanwhile, rinse the black quinoa and simmer it in a pan of water with the sprig of thyme for about 15 minutes until tender. Drain, discard the thyme and keep warm.

3. Peel the raw beetroot and slice it very thinly. Toss with the first 50g of sugar, the juice of one lemon and a pinch of salt, then leave for 20 minutes.

4. Put the verjuice, maple syrup, the second 50g of sugar and the zest of the other lemon in a small pan. Simmer for about 10 minutes until syrupy, then keep warm.

5. Finely chop the shallots and garlic. Soften them in a little olive oil in a pan for 3 minutes, then stir in the cooked quinoa and most of the grated parmesan.

6. Toast the black sesame seeds, fennel seeds, sunflower seeds, pistachios, wasabi peas and puffed rice cereal together in a dry pan for 3 to 4 minutes, then roughly crush and toss with a little olive oil and salt.

7. Blanch the samphire in a pan of boiling water for 30 seconds, drain and cool. Halve the grapes, dice the nashi and mix with the samphire, glaciale leaves or nasturtium, finger lime balls, a few drops of truffle oil and a little olive oil.

8. Scrape the roasted squash flesh into a bowl, mash with olive oil and salt, and brush the squash halves with some of the syrup. Clean the tulips and fill them with the squash and quinoa mixture. Top with the grape and herb mixture, crushed seed mixture, beetroot and syrup, and serve.