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Roast butternut squash with pearl barley and blue cheese

This is a lovely vegetarian dish that's very filling, so it can be a main meal for supper. If you can't live without meat, just supplement it with crispy bacon or serve it as a side dish with grilled meat or fish.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Resting Time 4 hours
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Cuisine: Italian
Calories: 1234
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 medium butternut squash
  • 1 onion
  • 4 cloves of garlic skin on
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 200 g pearl barley
  • 10 sage leaves
  • 100 g sweet soft blue cheese such as Gorgonzola or Dolcelatte
  • 1 handful of almonds

Method
 

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C
  2. Peel the squash and dice the flesh. Cut the onion into quarters.
  3. Put the onion and squash in a roasting tin.
  4. Flatten the garlic with a knife & add to the tin.
  5. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper; drizzle most of the oil over them and put in the oven.
  6. After about 20 minutes brush the sage leaves with some extra oil and add to the vegetables.
  7. Take out the garlic when soft, discard the peel, mash the flesh with a fork and set aside. Leave the other vegetables to roast until they're also soft - another 10 minutes or so.
  8. Meanwhile cook the barley in salted water for about 15 minutes until tender but still crunchy. Drain, keep it warm.
  9. And dry-fry the almonds (i.e.without oil) and set aside.
  10. When the squash is tender, take the tin out of the oven, add the barley, garlic & almonds and crumble the cheese on top. Mix everything together, season to taste.Serve warm.