Baked Orzo with Hasselback Squash
There is a fab Diana Henry recipe (this appears to be the one I’m thinking of) that involves roasting a chicken over a bed of orzo, with tomatoes and feta. It’s a very easy and very delicious recipe - thoroughly recommended. (Diana Henry is of course a genius so this is to be expected).
And this week, I really fancied some orzo, and rather than go out and find a chicken, I decided to roast one of the many squash we have on the farm right now. This recipe also features the other autumnal veg and winter herbs we have right now. It is no Diana Henry recipe - but I found it to be a rather tasty lunch.
Serves 4
1 medium squash or 2 small squash (I used a delicata squash)
generous glugs of olive oil
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1-2 leeks
2 stalks of kale
2 teaspoon olive oil
1./2 teaspoon dijon mustart
juice of a lemon
2 teaspoons honey
1 tin (400ml) chopped tomatoes
300g orzo
400ml vegetable or chicken stock
200g feta, crumbled
large bunch of chervil (or parsley or dill), chopped
Peel the squash (if you don’t like it with the skin on - I don’t bother), cut in half and scoop out the seeds.
Rub the squash halves with olive oil then put in a baking tray, season inside and out with salt and pepper then put in the oven set to 200*C. I put my squash into a cold oven but you could preheat it if you wanted.
Peel and finely chop an onion and two garlic cloves.
Heat a good glug of olive oil into and oven proof frying pan or casserole dish and and add the onion and garlic once hot.
Season well then cook over a low heat with the lid on until the onion is translucent. Meanwhile wash and finely slice your leek/s.
Once the onion is cooked down, add the leek and repeat - cook with the lid on for 5 minutes or so until the leek is soft.
Meanwhile wash the kale, pull the leaves off the stalks and roughly chop. Add this to your pan of onions and leeks and stir.
Cover again and cook for a few minutes.
Meanwhile make the marinade for the squash. Mix 2 teaspoons of olive oil with the dijon mustard, juice of half a lemon and honey in a measuring jug or mug and stir well to dissolve the honey then set to one side.
Back to your casserole dish… Once your kale is soft, add a tin of chopped tomatoes to the pan and stir well and heat.
Then add the orzo and vegetable stock into the pan and stir again. Take it off the heat.
By this time, your oven should be hot and your squash should be starting to cook. Remove the squash from the oven and use a knife to cut it into thin slices (but not quite to the bottom). I find placing wooden spoons or chopsticks to each side of your squash on the chopping board allows you to consistently cut almost down to the bottom of the squash each time.
Brush the squash liberally with the lemon, mustard, honey, marinade then put it back in the oven.
Put the lid on the pan of orzo and place this in the oven too.
Bake both for 20-25 minutes until the squash is starting to brown and the orzo is cooked through.
To serve, mix the remaining lemon juice, some of the crumbled feta and chopped chervil through the orzo. Then top the orzo with the roasted squash then sprinkle liberally with the remaining feta and chervil.
