I’ve been thinking about making a dish with wheat berries for a while now, and I guess I was jolted with a little bit of inspiration from a pasta dish I had at A Voce. Drawing on the brown butter and sage, that familiar and comforting fall aroma, and enjoying the dabs of natural sweetness from the butternut squash, this dish came together almost by itself.
If wheat berries are new to you, don’t worry, I’ve only had them twice before and this is my first time cooking with them. Just think of them as another whole grain. In fact it’s the whole wheat kernel (husk removed), the same wheat that flour is made from. Pretty cool, huh? They taste like larger grains of bouncier brown rice and are a great source of dietary fiber.
This serves as a lovely fall side dish, and could probably also be a vegetarian main course.
Wheat Berries and Butternut Squash with Brown Butter and Sage
~6 side servings
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup hard wheat berries
- 4 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 2 cups (1/2″) diced butternut squash
- 12 fresh sage leaves
- 3 tablespoons vegetable broth or chicken broth
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instruction –
1. Add salt to water and bring to a boil. Add wheat berries and simmer un-covered for 45 minutes, or until tender. (Wheat berries should be easy to bite through but not soft and mushy.)
2. While wheat berries are cooking, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
3.When wheat berries are ready, drain and set aside.
4. Heat 1/2 tablespoon butter in a medium sized oven-safe pan on high heat. Add butternut squash and brown. Toss occasionally but but not continuously, allowing time for the sides to brown. Season with salt and pepper. Put it in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until tender. Remove from oven and set aside.
5. In a large (12″) saute pan, heat remaining 4 tablespoons butter until it turns brown. Add sage and let them sizzle for a few seconds. Remove from the heat and carefully add vegetable broth. Return to heat and allow to thicken slightly. Add wheat berries and butternut squash. Season to taste and toss. Serve immediately.
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i love the nuttiness of wheatberry. What a beautiful creation you have there!
I love it! This looks fantastic. I have always loved the texture of wheat berries but I’ve never cooked it myself. I’m not surprised it takes 45 minutes to cook. Do you think you can make it in a rice cooker?
Stunning! I love wheat berries, and I adore butternut squash. This looks fantastic.
That picture was so gorgeous! I can’t wait to combine the grain and squash…and you get an A for perfect cubes!
Jen, good question. It’s worth a try. Mine stops on it’s own so I’m not sure how it would work in my rice cooker since it takes longer to cook than rice.
I cook wheatberries in my rice cooker, but I have a setting for brown rice that ensures it cooks all the way through.
This looks awesome! I’ve only ever fried sage leaves with butternut squash ravioli, so this is a much healthier alternative to one of my favorites.
EMC, thanks for the rice cooker experience. I need a new one. My very old one can only cook white rice.
i’ve never seen wheat berries used in this way, but i find the idea very appealing! i like a little toothy quality in at least some of my salad components.
The combination of wheatberries and butternut squash sounds amazing and I love the addition of sage!
Have you tried “freekeh”? it’s a smoked wheatberry that is just great. Btw, I only cook my wheat berries for like 20 minutes at a higher heat. They’re great when they’re toothsome.
Bill, I haven’t tried freekeh and would love to. Where do you buy it?
I find 45 minutes still very toothsome.
I get my freekeh from cayuga pure organics (http://www.cporganics.com/live/). They are at the greenmarket sometimes. They also have amazing spelt flour.
Just bought some mung beans. I’m going to try to come up with something.
Thank you for posting this. It looks lovely — I can’t wait to give it a go.
Thanks Bill, I’ve seen them at the market. I’ll look for freekeh next time.
I’ve never tried wheat berries before, but they sound really appealing the way you describe and prepare them. I’ll keep an eye out at the health food store next time.
omygosh….i’ve been under a rock what’d you do here? your website looks sttttunnnning! luv the thought of butternut squash with wheat berries….
I’ve never had wheatberries actually. Will have to look out for it. This looks so good!