AirFryday: Parmesan gem squash, the perfect South African starter

I tweaked this recipe just a little the other day. I’ve been making it for decades, but this time I made one tiny change. I wanted the little squash pots (because that’s what one half of a gem squash becomes when you make these) to shine. So I added melted butter to the grated parmesan topping before putting them in the air fryer to finish. Look at that golden beauty.

There’s one rather laborious step that you must put yourself through. This is the scraping out of the flesh of each of the gem squash you use.

Here’s how it works: one gem squash makes one serving. But the flesh of the whole squash fills only half of a squash, hence what you see in the photograph.

What you don’t want is a halved squash that’s soft and limp and irregular. So you need to start with raw halves, hence the need to scrape the flesh out of raw squash.

Use a teaspoon. Slice each gem in half (that is, halfway between the top and the bottom, not side on). First, scoop out the pips and discard them. Then, gouge out all the yellow flesh carefully and put it all in a steamer. This is wise, so that you don’t end up with overly watery flesh.

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Parmesan gem squash, buttery and very moreish. (Photo: Tony Jackman)