Butternut squash with spiced lentils & feta

Butternut squash with spiced lentils & feta

There's no need to peel the tough outer skin from the squash for this great-looking dish

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

Ready in 1 hour 30 minutes

Vegetarian

Vegetarian

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Wash the butternut squash and carefully cut it in half lengthways. Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds and fibrous centre and discard. Put the squash halves on a baking tray cut- side up, drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil, season and roast in a hot oven for approx 35 minutes or until the flesh is tender. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
  2. While the squash is cooking, simmer the lentils for about 30 minutes, until al dente, and drain. (You could use 300g pre-cooked lentils, or cook the lentils ahead of time).
  3. When the squash is cool enough to handle scoop out some flesh, leaving a border of 1cm, then roughly chop the flesh and put it in a bowl. (This can be done in advance).
  4. Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan, add the onions and garlic and cook until beginning to caramelise, about 10 minutes. Add the spices and cook for two minutes more. Add the lentils, reserved squash and 300ml of hot water and simmer for 8 minutes (until most of the water has been absorbed). Remove from the heat and stir through the feta, pine nuts, herbs and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Again the filling could be made ahead of time and the squash re-heated as required).
  5. Spoon the mixture equally between squash halves and cook in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Serve sprinkled with pomegranate seeds and the tahini yoghurt.
Try

Microwaving

You can microwave squash, Simply halve it, scoop out the seeds, then put the halves, covered, in a microwave for 8-10 minutes or until tender.

Per serving

448 kcalories, protein 18.3g, carbohydrate 42.9g, fat 23.8 g, saturated fat 6.6g, fibre 7.6g, salt 1.06 g

Recipe from olive magazine, February 2009.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 1-20

  • Binder photo Poolio

    2009-01-29 07:51:17.158768

    Poolio commented on this recipe

    Tahini yoghurt? Where did that come from?

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  • Binder photo Luis

    2009-01-30 09:48:52.243818

    Luis commented on this recipe

    Simply delicious! The perfect veggie dish. I am not vegeterian myself but it was really yummy. I didn't put any yogourt tahini, pommeganate seeds and I put simply cheddar instead of feta. Still really good.

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  • Binder photo Philippa

    2009-02-05 13:40:23.414127

    Philippa rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    This was nice enough for a low fat dinner. I didn't bother with the pommegranate seeds or the yoghurt either. The next day I chopped up the leftovers and stired through some rice which was nice.

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  • Binder photo Liz

    2009-02-08 08:18:43.670231

    Liz rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Really nice veggie dish, good flavours.

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  • Binder photo Jessica

    2009-02-10 20:37:34.362746

    Jessica rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    This was really lovely. The flavours complimented each other really well.

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  • Binder photo sally

    2009-02-17 17:04:25.980324

    sally rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I thought this was lovely, even without the yoghurt or pomegranate seeds, lovely flavours and textures.

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  • Binder photo tsl1961

    2009-07-30 18:47:29.023798

    tsl1961 commented on this recipe

    sounds delicious AND easy - off to make it now!

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  • Binder photo Kim

    2009-09-03 08:07:06.351619

    Kim rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Absolutely delicious! A new favourite! I didn't have pinenuts so used sunflower seeds -worked perfectly. I also left out the tahini yoghurt & pomegranate seeds. I used Red Lentils as I couldn't find Puy. I had it as a main course, and my boyfriend had it with a meat on the side. Works perfectly either way! ENJOY!!

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  • Binder photo breadnbutter

    2009-09-19 20:31:59.183611

    breadnbutter rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Have just made this and missed out the feta to keep the fat content down- it's delicious! Was about to use some horseradish to add flavour, but it doesn't need it. The flavours are just right to escape those added calories that condiments usually bring!

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  • Binder photo Alpineskiandgolf

    2009-11-10 18:03:52.569135

    Alpineskiandgolf rated and commented on this recipe

    2 stars

    not good

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  • Binder photo Belkey

    2010-04-21 09:38:53.683964

    Belkey rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I made this as a veggie main course for a large dinner party and it was very warmly received. I also couldn't be bothered with the pomegranate or tahini yogurt and forgot to add the pine nuts - whoops too much to do probably!

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  • Binder photo Eleanor

    2010-05-20 22:44:28.5302

    Eleanor rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I think this is delicious. I omitted the pine nuts and used half the amount of Stilton instead of goats cheese which might sound odd but it still works. I don't use pomegranate seeds but I do serve this with chopped apple and the sweetness really complements the dish.

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  • Binder photo vegetarian recipes

    2010-11-10 14:42:14.316454

    vegetarian recipes commented on this recipe

    already in oven. smells fabulous. can't wait to try it.

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  • Binder photo BookCake

    2011-11-16 19:08:03.861577

    BookCake rated and commented on this recipe

    1 stars

    This didn't really work for me - the feta clashed with the spices, and the tahini yogurt (searched for it on this site) was awful - raw garlic & tahini are terrible. And are you supposed to eat the squash skin? I didn't, and found it quite difficult to get the flesh out when eating. Perhaps deconstructed, this dish could work - but as written, not for me.

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  • Binder photo Passion for cooking

    2012-03-01 22:40:08.101396

    Passion for cooking rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    An easy yet very delicious recipe

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  • Binder photo evanshayleyleanne

    2012-03-13 12:43:08.605267

    evanshayleyleanne rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Tasty and healthly- i omitted the cheese, and it was still delicious

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  • Binder photo Miss_Tiddles

    2012-03-29 20:29:36.473568

    Miss_Tiddles rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I really liked this recipe.. I added chorizo which was tasty! Although not so veggie friendly.

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  • Binder photo lilygirl

    2012-07-26 19:42:55.099547

    lilygirl rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is a fantastic recipe! It was thoroughly enjoyed by me, my partner Mark, and my 14 year old daughter who said "I can't believe I've just eaten lentils and butternut squash?!" My 7 year old son enjoyed the meal, but not quite as much as the rest of us. I adapted this recipe a little - did 2tsps each of the ground cumin and cumin seeds (instead of 3 of each) and added 1 tsp turmeric (didn't have cayenne). Also, local supermarket didn't have pomegranate seeds, so substituted with red currants which whilst sharper in flavour, worked very well. Will definitely be making this again.

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  • Binder photo susieone

    2012-09-21 12:42:08.474729

    susieone rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Very enjoyable supper dish and much easier than the ingredients list would suggest. I didn't have either fresh mint or parsley so I used basil instead, which was fine. Drried herbs would have been very wrong for this recipe. I didn't have pomegranate either. I'm sure it would be a nice addition, but not essential for the basic recipe.

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  • Binder photo PanClanger

    2012-10-30 19:50:37.389521

    PanClanger rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Like lots of others, I didn't use any pomegranate seeds or tahini yoghurt. I thought this dish was ok, but not really good enough to justify the faff in putting it together. I thought the feta worked well with the warm spices, but I think a little more cayenne would have been welcome to give it a bit of a hoof. Incidentally, I wasn't sure whether you're meant to eat the skin of the butternut squash or not either! I did, but then my partner describes me as a goat when it comes to my capacity for vegetables (he didn't eat the skin). To me, it was perfectly edible (but then I'm a goat) although a little fibrous.

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

Ready in 1 hour 30 minutes

Vegetarian

Vegetarian

Ingredients

  • 3 small butternut squash , about 600g each
  • olive oil
  • 150g Puy lentils
  • 3 onions , peeled, halved and thinly sliced
  • 3 garlic cloves peeled and finely chopped
  • 3 tsp cumin seeds
  • 3 tsp ground cumin
  • 3 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1½ tsp sweet paprika
  • a pinch cayenne pepper
  • 225g feta cheese , crumbled
  • 60g pine nuts
  • 3 tbsp chopped mint
  • 3 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 lemon , juiced
  • seeds from ½ pomegranate
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Per serving

448 kcalories, protein 18.3g, carbohydrate 42.9g, fat 23.8 g, saturated fat 6.6g, fibre 7.6g, salt 1.06 g

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