Creamy Roasted Butternut Squash Orzo

5 from 24 votes

This creamy orzo pasta with roasted butternut squash, kale, fresh sage and Parmesan cheese is a delicious and nutritious dinner option.

Prep Time15

Cook Time1 10

Total Time1 25

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: British/Italian

Keyword: orzo pasta recipe

Servings:

2 tbsp This is an affiliate link.olive oil divided
1 butternut squash large, approximately 2 lbs/1 kg
salt and pepper to taste
2 shallots
2-3 cloves garlic
10 leaves sage divided or 0.5 tsp dried sage
500g/ 2 ½ cups This is an affiliate link.orzo
1 litre +250ml / 5 cups This is an affiliate link.vegetable stock plus ½ cup if needed
100g / 1 cup kale, chopped I used cavolo nero
50g / 3/4 cup This is an affiliate link.Parmesan cheese freshly grated

Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Peel, de-seed and cut butternut squash into bite-sized cubes, season with salt, pepper and 1 tbsp of olive oil or low calorie spray. Arrange on a shallow pan, scatter 4-5 sage leaves throughout and roast at 200C/400F for 45 minutes or until golden.
20 minutes before the squash is done, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a deep pan and sauté chopped shallots, garlic and remaining minced sage leaves over low heat for 2-3 minutes.
Add vegetables stock, salt and kale, bring to a boil, add orzo and cook according to package instructions for approximately 7-8 minutes until tender but al dente. Stir the orzo throughout the cooking process to release starch and to avoid it sticking to the bottom of a pan. If the mixture looks too thick add 1/2 cup of vegetable stock or water to maintain creamy, risotto like consistency. Take off the heat and stir in Parmesan cheese, salt to taste and top with roasted butternut squash.

Be sure to use low heat when adding the garlic and shallots. Burnt garlic is unpleasant! Low heat allows both to cook to a lovely golden colour and gently release flavour to the dish.
The thickness of the pasta sauce is up to you. For looser sauce, add a small amount of stock or water and combine until you are satisfied.
Kale can be left out but I like the flavour and nutrition it adds. Or replace it with spinach or Swiss chard.
Cut off the woodsy kale stalks before adding the leaves. The stalks are quite tough and won’t become tender in the time this dish takes to cook.
In place of butternut squash, you can use pumpkin, carrots, broccoli or plenty of other roasted vegetables.
Pre-grated Parmesan cheese may seem like a convenient choice, but unfortunately it doesn’t melt properly or have the same taste as fresh cheese. Freshly grated Parmesan is needed for that tasty, salty hit and perfect melt.