A delicious and healthy vegetarian recipe, with a golden, cheesy topping
This is a very hearty dish- a tasty roasted butternut squash filled pearl barley, spices and herbs, all topped with some Raclette cheese.
Servings
2
Prep time:
10min
Cook time:
60min
Difficulty:
Easy
- 1 small butternut squash
- 200g pearl barley
- 100g Raclette cheese
- 30g flaked almonds
- 1 red onion
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- tbsp olive oil
- 1tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2tsp allspice berries
- 1/2tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 pack fresh basil
- 1/4 pack thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
We used butternut squash for this recipe, but any small squash would work, such as a pumpkin.
The dish can also be made vegan- substitute the Raclette for some vegan cheese or just skip out altogether.
You can also substitute the vegetable stock cube for a chicken stock cube for a bit of extra flavour.
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1
First, preheat the oven to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F).
Meanwhile prep the butternut squash: halve lengthways, and using a spoon, scoop out the seeds. Place into a baking dish (flesh side up), score the top, then brush over 1tbsp of the olive oil. Roast for 40 minutes.
Step 2
Whilst the butternut squash is roasting, cook the pearl barley in a saucepan. First, make up 1litre of vegetable stock, then cook the pearl barley in the stock. First bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Check on the pan occasionally, and if necessary add more water.
Step 3
Whilst the pearl barley is cooking, you can prep the remaining ingredients: first, thinly slice the red onion and peel, then roughly chop the garlic. Then, grind the all spice berries using a pestle and mortar. Finally, remove the thyme leaves from the stem and slice the basil leaves.
Step 4
Heat the remaining 1tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan on medium heat, then cook the red onion for 5-6 minutes, until soft. Then, add in the chopped garlic, ground cinnamon and ground allspice, mix well and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Step 5
Push the red onion and garlic to one side, then fry the flaked almonds for a few minutes. Then mix everything together again.
Step 6
Once the pearl barley is cooked, add it to the pan with the red onion, then add the fresh herbs (reserve some of the basil for garnishing at the end), the lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste and then mix everything for the last few minutes.
Step 7
The butternut squash should be cooked by now: remove from the oven, then scoop the filling on to the squash.
Step 8
Finally, place the Raclette cheese on top (slice the cheese if not already sliced), then grill for 3-4 minutes until the cheese starts to bubble.
Step 9
If any of the filling doesn’t fit into the squash- keep it warm in the pan. The cheese should bubble and then it is then ready to serve. Scatter over the leftover basil leaves. Enjoy!
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