Autumn Squash and Chickpea Traybake with Harissa

An autumn dish that asks very little of you

There is a particular kind of cooking that suits October: unhurried, forgiving, and built around whatever the garden and the veg box have decided to give you. This traybake is that dish. A squash goes into the oven in chunks, chickpeas join it partway through with a generous spoonful of harissa, and everything emerges caramelised at the edges, spiced, and faintly sweet. You stir a little yoghurt through at the table, scatter coriander, and that is dinner.

The whole thing takes about an hour, of which perhaps ten minutes is actual work. It scales up easily for a crowd, reheats well the next day, and is just as good warm as it is at room temperature, which makes it useful for a Sunday lunch where nobody wants to be tied to the stove.

Choosing your squash

Any firm-fleshed winter squash works here, but the dry, dense ones give the best result because they roast rather than steam. Crown Prince and Kabocha are the gold standard — deeply flavoured and nutty. Red Kuri is excellent and needs no peeling at all if you buy a good one. Butternut is the easiest to find and perfectly decent, though it holds more water, so cut it a little smaller and give it an extra ten minutes.

You want roughly 1.2kg of prepared flesh, cut into 3cm chunks. Leave the skin on if it is thin and you have scrubbed it well; it roasts into something pleasantly chewy.

• Do not crowd the tin. Use two trays if you need to. Squash piled up will steam and go limp.
• Keep the seeds. Rinse them, toss with a little oil and salt, and roast them alongside the squash for the last 12 minutes. They make a brilliant topping.
• Save the trimmings. Peelings, seeds and stringy bits go into a bag in the freezer for stock.

The chickpeas, and why harissa matters here

The chickpeas are not an afterthought. Added partway through roasting, they crisp at the edges while soaking up the oil, the squash juices and the spice. Two 400g tins, drained and dried properly on a tea towel, is the right quantity for one large tray.

Use a harissa you actually like the taste of, because it carries the whole dish. Rose harissa is softer and more fragrant, with a slow warmth rather than a sharp hit — ideal if you are feeding people with different tolerance levels. A plainer chilli harissa will be punchier; start with one tablespoon and add more at the end if it needs it. A teaspoon of smoked paprika alongside is a good addition if your harissa is on the mild side.

Dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and simmered until just tender, are even better if you have the time and the foresight. They hold their shape and go properly crunchy.

How to put it together

Heat the oven to 200°C fan (220°C conventional, gas mark 7). Toss the squash with three tablespoons of olive oil, a teaspoon of cumin seeds, salt and plenty of black pepper, and spread it across a large roasting tin. Roast for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, slice a large onion into thin half-moons and crush three cloves of garlic. Take the tin out, turn the squash pieces, and scatter over the onion, garlic and chickpeas. Spoon over two tablespoons of harissa and a further tablespoon of oil, then toss everything gently so it is coated without breaking up the squash.

Return to the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until the chickpeas are golden and slightly crisp and the squash is collapsing at the corners. Squeeze over half a lemon while it is still hot — this sharpens everything up and is the step most people skip.

What to pick from the garden right now

If you grow your own, this is a good moment to be generous with herbs. Coriander sown in late summer will still be going, though it bolts quickly; cut it hard and use the stems as well as the leaves, chopped finely. Flat-leaf parsley, mint and dill all work in place of or alongside it.

• Autumn-sown coriander on a cool windowsill will keep you in leaves well into November.
• Garlic planted now, in a sunny bed with decent drainage, will be ready next July.
• Chillies ripening on a windowsill plant can be blitzed with a little oil and vinegar for a rough homemade harissa.
• Winter salad leaves — lamb's lettuce, land cress, claytonia — sown in September will give you something fresh to serve alongside.

Serving it, and what to do with the leftovers

Spoon everything onto a wide platter and let people help themselves. Thick yoghurt, seasoned with salt and a little lemon zest, goes on the side rather than over the top so it stays cold against the hot squash. Flatbreads, couscous or simply a pile of dressed winter leaves are all you need.

Any leftovers keep for three days in the fridge. Eat them cold in a lunchbox with a handful of rocket, or mash them roughly with the back of a fork and spread on toast with a fried egg on top. The squash breaks down, the chickpeas stay firm, and it is arguably better on day two.