Pumpkin Orzo with Brown Butter Crispy Sage

Maple roasted pumpkin orzo with brown butter crispy sage. Roast the pumpkin while you get your orzo on. Crispy up your sage in the butter and set aside to drizzle later. If you hate peeling pumpkin like me, get it in the oven and scoop the flesh out when soft, it’s a lot easier.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

For the pumpkin:

Olive oil 

1/2 medium pumpkin, (I used delicate), deseed and sliced into wedges 

1 tbsp maple syrup 

1 tsp smoked paprika 

1 bulb of garlic

2 slices of sourdough bread 

For the orzo:

50g butter

Handful of sage leaves 

1 onion 

1 sprig of rosemary, chopped

250g orzo 

500ml-750ml veg stock 

2 tbsp nutritional yeast 

25g grated parmesan cheese 

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 200C fan. Line a baking tray with paper and arrange the pumpkin wedges. Drizzle with olive oil, maple syrup, paprika and season with salt and pepper. Cut the top off the garlic bulb, exposing the tops of the cloves. Wrap the bulb in foil drizzled with olive oil. Place on the baking sheet tray and roast everything for 25 minutes until the pumpkin is soft. On a separate baking tray, rip up the sourdough into small pieces, toss with olive oil and a pinch of salt and bake for 15 minutes until crispy. 

2. Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat with the butter and olive oil. When the butter has melted, add the sage leaves and fry for 1 minute or until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate to garnish later. Keep toasting the butter until smells delicious and nutty and turns a caramel colour. Quickly pour into a heatproof bowl as it can burn quickly. 

3. Wipe out the same pan and add a drizzle of olive oil. Add the onion to the same pan with a pinch of salt and cook for 8 minutes until softened and lightly caramelised. Add the rosemary for 1 minute then stir in the orzo and pour over the veg stock. Bring to a simmer for 10 minutes, stirring regularly until the orzo has cooked through, adding more stock if it seems too dry. When the pumpkin has cooked, scoop out the flesh of half the wedges and transfer to a blender with the nutritional yeast and garlic cloves, squeezed out from their skins. Blend until smooth. Pour into the orzo and stir through to combine. Taste to season.

4. Divide the orzo between bowls and top with the extra pumpkin wedges. Scatter over the sourdough croutons, crispy sage and drizzle with brown butter. A grating of parmesan goes really well if you want.