Squashes, pumpkins and marrows

This motley family, with its wonderful variety of shapes and colours, is probably the most interesting and unusual of all vegetables. Beyond Halloween lanterns, pumpkins and squashes deserve to be used much more as a vegetable - in the way the Italians do.

Butternut squash is the variety I usually choose to prepare and cook, as it has a good flavour and texture. I find a serrated bread knife is often the best tool for cutting away its hard skin.

Most squashes and pumpkins can be used in much the same way as root vegetables - in soups, mashed or baked. Try roasting chunks and wedges of different squashes in the oven drizzled with olive oil, then just finish with grated orange or lemon zest and a good grinding of salt and pepper. Baked squashes are also great with some cobnuts thrown in at the end. Or, once baked, you can grate some mature cheese like Cheddar or Lancashire over them and flash them under the grill.