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Steps:

• 1. Sieve your flour and icing sugar into a large mixing bowl from a height.
  2. Chop the butter into cubes, then using your fingertips, gently work it the flour and sugar until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs (or pulse it in a food processor).
  3. Finely grate in the orange zest (if using) or halve, scrape out and add the seeds from the vanilla pod (if using). Mix again.
  4. Beat the egg with the milk, then add the mixture and gently work it together until it forms a ball of dough. Remember not to work the pastry too much at this stage or it will become elastic and chewy, not crumbly and short.
  5. Sprinkle a little flour over the dough, pat into a flat round about 2.5cm thick, then srinkle over a little more flour, and wrap the dough in clingfilm. Pop it into the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes.
  6. Get yourself a 25cm non-stick loose-bottomed tart tin and, using a splash of vegetable oil on a piece of kitchen paper, lightly oil the inside.
  7. Dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with flour, then carefully roll out your pastry, turning it every so often, until it’s about ½cm thick.
  8. Carefully roll your pastry around the rolling pin, then unroll it carefully over your oiled tin. Ease the pastry into the tin, making sure you push it into all the sides.
  9. Trim off any excess by running a knife along the top of the pastry case, then prick the base of the case all over with a fork and pop it into the freezer for 30 minutes.
  10. Preheat your oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4.
  11. Get yourself a large square piece of greaseproof paper, scrunch it up, then unwrap it and use it to line your pastry case, pushing it right into the sides. Fill the case right up to the top with rice, and bake blind for 10 minutes in your preheated oven.
  12. Take the case out, carefully remove the rice and greaseproof paper (you can save the rice to use for blind baking another time), then return the case to the oven to cook for a further 10 minutes until it’s firm and almost biscuit-like. Leave to cool.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Wash the squash, then carefully quarter it lengthways and remove the seeds, placing the squash in a roasting tray, skin side down. Peel, quarter and scatter over the onions, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of oil, add the cinnamon, ground coriander and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper, finely grate over half the nutmeg, then toss together. Roast for 40 minutes, then remove from the oven. Pick and roughly chop the sage leaves with the cranberries and pistachios, toss with a light drizzle of oil, then scatter over the squash and onions. Roast for another 5 minutes, then remove and leave to cool. Tear the bread into a bowl, pour over the milk and leave to soak for a few minutes. Squeeze out any excess milk, then pinch and tear the bread into the tray of cooled veg. Using your hands, really squash and squidge everything together with another pinch of sea salt and black pepper until well mixed. Line a 1.5 litre pudding bowl with a scrunched-up sheet of wet, oiled greaseproof paper (or you can use a baking dish to give you a greater surface area for a crispy top, if you prefer). Pack in the stuffing and drizzle with 1 more tablespoon of oil, then cover with greaseproof paper, tying it in place with string. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, or until golden and gnarly. Use the greaseproof paper to help you lift it out of the bowl, then confidently flip it on to a plate and serve.