SPICED SQUASH & CREMATTA™ ORZO

Ingredients

350g Mixed Squash
Salt
Pepper
120ml Cashew (or other) milk
1 Tbsp Nutritional yeast
Chilli flakes (optional)
1 Shallot, finely chopped
2 Cloves of garlic, minced
225g Orzo
500-600ml Stock, warmed

½ Lemon, juiced
Chilli crisp/ peanut rayu (to finish)

Method

Preheat your oven to 220c and roast the squash, seasoned with salt and pepper then tossed in a little olive oil. We like a combination of cubed butternut and onion squash cut into wedges. Cook for 25-30 minutes tossing half way through. Once cooled add to the bowl of a food processor with the milk and a teaspoon of chilli flakes if using. Blitz to a puree.
Fry off the shallot and garlic in a generous pour of olive oil over a medium heat. Cook until translucent, stirring regularly as you don't want the onion to catch and burn. Add the orzo, stir to coat, season further with salt and pepper.
Add 500ml of the warm stock to the pan, bring to the boil before then simmering for around 8 minutes or until the orzo is soft but still retains a slight ‘bite’. Whilst cooking, be sure to stir frequently so that the orzo does not stick to the bottom/ sides of your pan. Add the rest of the stock at the halfway point to keep the dish from losing too much liquid.
Once the orzo tastes ready, turn the heat to low and mix in the squash puree and a heaping spoon of crematta™, stirring well to work the creamy sauce through the starchy orzo and create a silky smooth finish.
Squeeze over the lemon juice, plate the orzo finished with a wedge of onion squash, a final spooning of crematta™ and chilli crisp/ rayu which gives the perfect fork combination of warm, cool, creamy, crunchy and spicy all in one hit from the orzo, crematta™ and chilli crisp/ rayu.

Field Notes

This is your shortcut to the perfect wintry weeknight supper, giving you all the vibes of a risotto but with much less time standing over the pan. Combining two different types of squash gives a beautiful sweet nutty flavour and creates the most amazing creamy sauce when paired with our crematta! If spice isn't for you, omit the chilli flakes and try finishing this with a zesty pangrattato. Simply toast 100g of panko breadcrumbs in a pan with a little olive oil, crushed garlic and lemon zest. We ALWAYS make extra of this recipe so there’s leftovers to chill overnight then make our Superstraccia® stuffed Suppli the next day!

Recipe

SPICED SQUASH & CREMATTA™ ORZO