- 75g pearl barley
- 3 pattipans
- 1 onion
- 1 red pepper
- A handful of sage, leaves only
- ½ x 150g Perl Las
- 50g peppery salad mix
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 250-300ml boiling water
- Sea salt
- 2 tsp olive oil
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1.
Heat your oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4. Slice the top 3cm off each pattipan (these are your lids). Scrape out the seeds from the middle of each squash. Pop the pattipans and their lids onto a baking tray. Bake for 20 mins.
- 2.
While the squashes bake, tip the barley into a small pan. Pour in enough boiling water so it’s covered by 1cm water (around 250-300ml). Add a pinch of salt. Cover. Simmer for 15 mins till the barley is tender.
- 3.
Peel and finely chop the onion. Halve the pepper. Scoop out the seeds and white bits. Finely chop the pepper. Finely chop the sage leaves.
- 4.
Tip the onion and pepper into a frying pan with 2 tsp olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook and stir over a medium heat for 5 mins till the veg have caramelised and browned a little. Stir in most of the sage (keep a pinch back for garnishing).
- 5.
Drain the barley well and stir it into the veg. Stir over the heat for 2-3 mins to dry everything out. Crumble 50g of the Perl Las and stir most of it into the barley (keep some back for later).
- 6.
Take the squash out of the oven. Pour out any excess liquid. Scoop out most of the flesh, leaving a thin shell. Stir the pattipan flesh into the barley. Spoon the barley stuffing into the pattipans, pushing it down to fill them. You may have some leftover stuffing. If so, pop a square of foil on the baking tray and spread the extra stuffing on that.
- 7.
Scatter 25g of the Perl Las over the top of the pattipans. Return to the oven and bake for 15 mins till the cheese is melted and the squash is tender. The extra stuffing will be a little golden.
- 8.
While the pattipans roast, toss the salad with 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar and some salt and pepper.
- 9.
Pop the pattipans on two warm plates. Lay the lids on top of them and serve with the salad and extra stuffing, garnished with parsley leaves.
- Tip
Easily cheesed
Your leftover Perl Las will keep for a week, wrapped, in the fridge. It has a lot of flavour, so a little goes a long way. Try mashing some into roast squash for a cheesey vegetable mash. Or crumble over pasta tossed with chopped figs, roast onions and sage.