Can I just tell you how much I adore this Butternut Squash Gratin with Lemon Orzo and Asparagus? I drew inspiration from a photo of a traditional recipe called Salmon Oscar. It was a menu item featured at a popular upscale chain restaurant. While theirs obviously wasn’t vegan, you know how much I love the challenge of transforming a dish. No fish in this recipe. Instead, I substituted a vegan-friendly alternative … “filet” of butternut squash 🙂

Butternut squash. Hmmm… It all sounded good in my head, but I wasn’t sure how it would translate in the final product. I used the same panko/(vegan) parmesan/(vegan) margarine gratin concept for the topping and lightened up the sauce for the orzo. Theirs was a white wine cream sauce. Mine is a lemon and vegan margarine sauce with fresh parsley. Serve with a few lemon wedges and garnish with a sprig of parsley. It was awesome!

So let’s get started, shall we? I sorted through a bin of squash to find one with a long neck and smaller bulb (for lack of a better term, if that makes sense). While I did scoop the seeds and roast that end as well, they won’t be used in this particular recipe.

The first thing we need to do is peel the butternut squash. If you have trouble peeling large squash like this one, I have to share with you one of my all time favorite kitchen gadgets. This peeler works so easily and peels vegetables so thin, I can’t even give it enough praise to do it justice. There is very little waste when using this peeler. Not sponsored by, nor do I have any relationship with this company…it’s just THAT good! Here’s a link to it on Amazon.com.

I cut off the bulbous end and sliced the remainder vertically (as shown below). Lightly oil, generously season with salt and pepper and bake cut side down at 400 degrees until fork tender. About 35-40 minutes.

Once the squash has nearly finished cooking, we’ll combine panko bread crumbs, vegan margarine, vegan parmesan (you could also use nutritional yeast) and parsley.

Flip the squash over so the rounded side is now facing down. The panko mixture should be moist, but not wet. This will help it stick to the squash. Press lightly to adhere. Bake for another 10-15 minutes until it forms a nice, golden crust.

While the squash finishes cooking in the oven, I prepared orzo and mixed it with vegan margarine and fresh parsley. Season with salt and pepper and add a squeeze of lemon juice.

I also steamed asparagus spears, which I then cut into 1″ pieces.

And there you have it!

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