An impressive vegetarian main or side dish of a beautifully caramelized curried butternut squash stuffed with grains, mushrooms and scattered with halloumi cheese and pine nuts.
Course Appetizer, Main Course, Main Dish, Side Dish
½cupgreen lentils also known as continental lentils
3tablespoonpesto sauce I used my homemade Pesto Sauce
3 cups kale chopped
3 tbsp pinenuts
30gdried mushrooms I have used chanterelle
1large red onionor 2 medium sized
250ghalloumi cheese grilled made into pieces
2tsp cumin powder
1tbsp curry powder
½tsp salt
1tsp black pepper freshly ground
2cloves garlic
Instructions
Heat the oven to 220°C/400°F/200°C fan assisted/Gas Mark 7.
Make a paste from the crushed garlic, curry powder, cumin powder and a drizzle of olive oil or water just to make it easier to brush it on.
Wash and cut the butternut squash in halves. Score the seeds using a spoon.
Place the halved butternut squashes on a baking sheet, cut-side up, and rub those cut sides with the crushed garlic, curry powder, cumin powder and a drizzle of olive oil. Roast for about 40 minutes until tender and nicely caramelised.
While the curried butternut halves are roasting, make the Pesto Sauce unless you have some already made.
Bring a pan of water to a boil and add the rice, lentil, quinoa, and red rice. Simmer these covered on low heat from the boiling point for 12 minutes until just tender. You do want these al dente so we still with some bite left. Drain well and transfer to a mixing bowl. Stir in the pesto.
In a pan, cook the chopped and seasoned mushrooms. When these are ready, add the four grains, and kale, and add a little more curry and cumin powder. Stir well, and cook for a further 4 minutes. This will be the squash stuffing.
When the stuffing is ready, divide the pesto rice mix between the 4 cavities of the butternut squash halves. Sprinkle over the halloumi cheese. You can do this now or later after taking the squash halves out, just before serving.
Either way, return the filled squash to the oven for another 10 minutes until the cheese has turned golden and everything is piping hot.
Serve sprinkled with the toasted pine nuts, some chilli flakes and a good squeeze of lemon. Enjoy!
Notes
Pepper - definitely use freshly ground pepper if you would like the proper flavor - ready ground pepper does not taste like anything
Halloumi cheese cannot be found everywhere so this can be happily subbed by feta cheese
Dried mushrooms - if you do not have these, use any fresh mushrooms
Butternut squash - allow this to caramelize slightly for extra flavor
The four grains - can be subbed by any grains you like or have in the pantry cupboard
Kale - can be subbed by spinach, spring greens, or swiss chard
This recipe serves 8 as a side dish and 4 as a main.