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For the tahini sauce

Nutrition: Per serving

  • kcal430
  • fat22g
  • saturates6g
  • carbs42g
  • sugars15g
  • fibre6g
  • protein13g
  • salt1.3g
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Method

  • step 1

    Cook the pearl barley following pack instructions, crumbling the stock cube into the boiling water for extra flavour. Drain and set aside to cool.

  • step 2

    Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts and almonds in a dry pan until nutty brown. Tip into a bowl and set aside. Use the same pan to toast the fennel and coriander seeds for a couple of mins, until aromatic. Grind the spices using a pestle and mortar.

  • step 3

    Cut the squash in half lengthways through the centre. Scoop out and discard the seeds and any fibrous bits. Keep scraping to carve out a channel down the centre of both squash halves for stuffing, you may need to score the flesh with a knife first if your squash is very firm. The squash shell should be about 1.5cm thick all over when you’ve finished. Roughly chop any squash you remove and set aside. Score the flesh of the 2 squash halves in a criss-cross pattern, trying not to pierce the skin, rub with 1 tbsp oil and season well.

  • step 4

    Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Heat the remaining 2 tbsp oil in a pan and cook the onion, chopped squash and leek for 8-10 mins until soft. Stir in the garlic and cook for another min. Add the pearl barley, nuts, spices, feta, herbs, dried fruit and lemon zest. Season well and cook for a min or 2 more, then pack the filling into the cavities in the 2 squash halves, keep any leftover stuffing. Tie the halves back together with kitchen string, as you would a joint of meat. The squash will shrink a little as it cooks, so make sure you make the knots nice and tight. Rub the outside with a little more oil and season well. Alternatively, wrap well in foil.

  • step 5

    Place in a roasting tin lined with some foil or parchment and cook for 1 hr. Check if the squash is cooked by inserting a knife, it should go in with little resistance and the flesh should feel soft. Scatter any remaining stuffing around the squashetta and return to the oven for another 5 mins to warm through. Mix the tahini, lemon juice, honey and a drizzle of water to make a dressing. Carve the squash into slices and serve drizzled with the tahini sauce and scattered with parsley.

RECIPE TIPS
MAKE IT VEGAN

Leave out the feta to make it vegan. If you find you’re missing a bit of a salty, umami kick, you can replace it with 2 tbsp soy sauce or mushroom ketchup.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, March 2019

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Comments, questions and tips (14)

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Overall rating

A star rating of 4.5 out of 5.23 ratings

Cariatide

Very nice but I did cook the barley while oven cooked the butternut squash halves in advance. Also, I thought there was A LOT of pearl barley, I did not use half of it. All in all it was very nice and I will probably make it again. Definitely not 15min prep, more like 1 hour.

nick11459

tip

Amazing tasting dish. Next time I may just peel and dice the squash and cook it up with everything else to make this as a one pan dish, this should reduce the amount of prep required and will taste just as good.

finnmccool

Lovely taste, but 15 minutes' prep a little optimistic! Scooping out squash would be easier and quicker if the halves were pre-cooked, as someone else suggests here. Also next time bulgur wheat instead of pearl barley, which takes ages to cook. Excellent dressing.

k57znvkrx7wgagcAWt

Unfortunately it was not good, the flavours didn’t quite go with my palate perhaps or I did not do this quite right.

klhendry

Can any leftover stuffing mix be frozen?

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