This creamy pumpkin orzo is a Halloween week dinner that cooks like a risotto in half the time. Small cubes of butternut squash or pumpkin simmer with the orzo in stock, sage and butter. Some of the squash is pressed into the sauce at the end, the rest stays in soft cubes, and toasted pumpkin seeds go on top for crunch. It takes 30 minutes in one pan.
Why this works
Orzo cooked in a small amount of stock gives off its starch into the liquid, which thickens into a creamy sauce before any cheese goes in. It is tender in about 10 minutes, half the time risotto rice needs.
Squash cut into small dice cooks in the same time as the orzo. Pressed against the pan at the end, some of it breaks down into a purée that thickens and colours the sauce. Sage stirred into the hot butter for a minute flavours every grain.
Key ingredients
- Squash or pumpkin. Butternut squash is in the shops all year. A small eating pumpkin works in October. Carving pumpkins are watery, so use a little less stock with them.
- Orzo. Pasta shaped like grains of rice, sold next to the spaghetti. It releases enough starch to make its own sauce.
- Fresh sage. Snipped into the butter, it turns soft and fragrant in a minute. Dried sage is stronger, so use a pinch instead.
- Mascarpone. A spoonful at the end makes the sauce silky. Crème fraîche works too and adds a slight tang.
Amounts for 1 to 6 people are in the recipe card below, in grams or cups.
Method
- 01
Prepare the squash
Peel the squash, scoop out any seeds and cut the flesh into 1 cm dice. Make up the hot stock.
Y Peeler with Beech Handle - 02
Toast the seeds
Toast the pumpkin seeds in a large, deep frying pan over a medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, shaking the pan, until they puff and start to pop. Tip them onto a plate.
- 03
Soften the onion
Melt half the butter in the same pan and cook the onion for 3 minutes until soft. Add the garlic, snip in the sage with the herb scissors and stir for 1 minute.
- 04
Add the orzo
Stir in the squash and orzo until they are coated in the butter, then pour in most of the hot stock.
- 05
Simmer and stir
Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring often so the orzo doesn't stick, and adding the rest of the stock if it looks dry. It is ready when the orzo is tender and a cube of squash breaks when pressed with a spoon.
- 06
Make it creamy
Take the pan off the heat and press some of the squash against the side to break it up. Grate in most of the cheese with the rasp, then stir in the mascarpone and the rest of the butter. Grate over a little nutmeg and season with salt and pepper.
Rasp Zester and Fine Grater - 07
Serve
Spoon into warm bowls while it is still loose. Scatter over the toasted seeds and the extra cheese, and top with pea shoots if you have them.
What to serve it with
A green salad with a mustard dressing on the side. To use up the rest of a large squash, make the quick pumpkin soup the next day.
Storing and reheating
- Fridge
- Cool quickly, cover and eat within 2 days.
- Freezer
- Best skipped. The orzo turns soft and grainy once thawed.
- Reheat
- In a pan over a low heat with a splash of water or stock, stirring until piping hot.
Questions
Yes. Leave out the diced squash and stir a few spoonfuls of purée into the orzo with the stock. It gives a smoother, more orange sauce without the soft cubes.
Pasta. It is made from durum wheat like spaghetti, cut into the shape of large grains of rice, which is why it cooks so well risotto style.
Parmesan is made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian Italian style hard cheese and vegetable stock to keep it meat free.
It keeps soaking up liquid after it leaves the heat. Take it off while it still flows, serve straight away, and loosen it with a splash of hot water if it sets.
Recipe
Creamy pumpkin and sage orzo in 30 minutes
Orzo and diced squash cooked risotto style with sage and butter, then stirred with parmesan and topped with toasted pumpkin seeds. By Maya Brooks.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Total
- 30 min
- Serves
- 2
Ingredients
Method
- 01Peel the squash, scoop out any seeds and cut the flesh into 1 cm dice. Make up the hot stock.
- 02Toast the pumpkin seeds in a large, deep frying pan over a medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, shaking the pan, until they puff and start to pop. Tip them onto a plate.
- 03Melt half the butter in the same pan and cook the onion for 3 minutes until soft. Add the garlic, snip in the sage with the herb scissors and stir for 1 minute.
- 04Stir in the squash and orzo until they are coated in the butter, then pour in most of the hot stock.
- 05Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring often so the orzo doesn't stick, and adding the rest of the stock if it looks dry. It is ready when the orzo is tender and a cube of squash breaks when pressed with a spoon.
- 06Take the pan off the heat and press some of the squash against the side to break it up. Grate in most of the cheese with the rasp, then stir in the mascarpone and the rest of the butter. Grate over a little nutmeg and season with salt and pepper.
- 07Spoon into warm bowls while it is still loose. Scatter over the toasted seeds and the extra cheese, and top with pea shoots if you have them.
