italian suitcase: lamb legs w/ creamy butternut squash mash

It's an endless battle between MrM and I on the pumpkin topic. Basically I love it, he hates it.
Every time I want to prepare something with this lovely orange veggie, I have to come up with original ideas to mask the sweet flavour...

I've grown up with my parents farming their own vegetables and fruits, and pumpkin has always been my winter favourite. They grow an italian variety (not the padana, they call it mantovana but I'm not sure it's the right name) that has a sage green, very hard skin; and another reason MrM doesn't like the orange veggie is because of its hard skin, very tricky to cut/slice.
We once tried a butternut squash variety here in London and he accepted to compromise on it having a much softer skin and less stronger sweet taste. Still too sweet though.
My parents then decided to plant the seeds of this supposedly british variety and the following autumn the results were ready for us to fly back with a couple of butternut squash to try.
Dad then told the story to his farmer friend that started laughing in a very amused way.. He explained that it's a variety they produce in Italy and France and his farm sell the perfect-sized ones to the italian market and then fly the remaining to the UK, as the butternut squash struggles to ripen in this cold climate!

Ingredients for 2 people:
mid-sized butternut squash
a bunch of sage
250ml single cream
2 lamb legs
EVO oil
pinch of salt

Preparation:
Preheat the oven at 180˚, cut in halves the squash and remove the seeds. Place the halves skin down on a baking tray and let it cook for 40 minutes. It's ready when a fork can enter the flesh without too much pressure.
Peel off the skin (a good quality peeler will do a great job) and cut in big chunks; move those to a pan, add the cream, the roughly chopped sage and some salt. Let it simmer for a good 10 minutes and then blend it down to a mash consistency. Keep cooking for another 3-4 minutes stirring occasionally.

In a frying pan drizzle some EVO oil and turn to a medium heat. Place some sage and then gently ease down the lamb legs. Cook 5 minute each side for rare or 7 minutes for medium-done.

Serve immediately, and enjoy with a glass of medium bodied red wine. We had a fantastic Pinot Nero from Sudtirol 2010 Kellerei Kaltern Saltner Blauburgunder.