Rice and Squash Bombe

This is a scrumptious knock-out party dish! Invite friends over and make it a “bombe party”.

You might know this dish better by its Azerbiaijani name, shakh plov, or its Persian name, polo ba tahdig. Just kidding. I have never heard of it by any of its names, even as a Rice and Squash Bombe. But after seeing its picture in the New York TImes, I had to make it.

Here’e the joke. The recipe lists its prep time as 15 minutes. It took me 15 minutes to assemble the ingredients, or maybe that doesn’t count. In actuality, I was pepping for over an hour and I’m hardly what you call a novice. I have always stayed away from adding prep times to my recipes. How long does it take you to chop an onion?

I know many of you would never want to try this, but for the few of you that do, it’s really worth it. But first I have to share with you the laughter over the prep time.

Cutting the squash. I purchased the squash already cut from the market. An extravagance, but I didn’t relish the idea of cutting up a whole uncooked squash. The recipe called for the squash cut into 1/2 inch cubes. My package was haphazardly cut into anywhere from 2 inch cubes to crumbs. It took me 30 minutes to precisely cut 3 pounds into 1/2 inch cubes. The recipe called for 4 pounds, but after 3 pounds I’d had it. Luckily that was all the recipe needed. Next time I wouldn’t be so fussy about the size. It all tends to melt together when baked anyway. Squash can be cut ahead.

Dicing 8 medium shallots —-10 minutes. I stopped at 1 cup. They don’t need to be diced. Chopping is fine. This can be done ahead.

2 tablespoon picked thyme leaves—10 minutes. Next time I would use dried. If using fresh, prep ahead.

4 pita breads split in half to create thinner rounds—-8 minutes. Unfortunately the only pitas available from my market were not meant to be split in half horizontally.

Cutting pita breads into triangles to line the bowl. Obviously that was never taken into consideration when they listed the prep time to 15 minutes. Coating the bowl with soft butter. Only a couple of minutes, but still……

Then of course there is cooking the rice, which you might only consider cook time, if you don’t need to measure the rice, put it into the pan, drain and rinse.

I haven’t written all this to turn you off from making it, because I can’t wait to make it again. I only tell you all this because their prep time was such a joke.

Now that I’ve made it once and taken notes, I have simplified the recipe slightly, but I’m still trying to figure out how to make it ahead of time. I think it is best to assemble this creative, unique and truly delicious dish as a fun project with friends in your kitchen. Then during the 50 minutes it bakes, you can get plastered on cocktails.

The bottom line is that every bite of this bombe is fantastic. The rice and squash seasoned with cumin. cayenne and a pinch of saffron (I cheated and used tumeric) is so addictive you can’t stop eating it.

After all that, here is my simplified and more specified recipe. All of your comments are truly appreciated (with photos doubly so).

This is the best way I found of cutting the pita to line the bowl.

Overlap the pita like scales of fish. If the pieces don’t stick, add a little more butter.

Using a knife or chopstick, poke several holes in the rice and pour seasoned butter into them.

After filling, top with a pita and fold the pieces over the top. They aren’t going to show, so don’t worry about being neat.

The delicious rice/squash mixture needs to be spooned out. The pita is crispy and the filing tender. Every bite is a treat.

Rice and Squash Bombe

3 lbs. peeled squash, cut into abouy 1 to 1/2 inch cubes
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
2 to 3 teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup chopped shallots (about 6 medium)
1/2 cup chopped raisins
1/2 cup pine nuts or sliced almonds
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons fresh thyme or 2 teaspoons dried
2 cups white basmati rice, rinsed
3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) butter, softened
2 pinches saffron or 1/2 teaspoon tumeric
4 (6 to 8 inch) white pita breads, split in half to create thinner rounds

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

2. To roast the squash and shallots: Place the squash on a large baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Toss to coat and spread evenly. Roast for 20 minutes. Push the squash to one side and add the shallots. Season with 1 teaspoon salt. Stir and spread the shallots as evenly as possible. Roast, stirring from time to time to encourage even cooking, until the squash is soft and chewy on the edges and the shallots are caramelized, 25 to 30 minutes.

3. Stir in raisins, 2 tablespoons pine nuts, cumin, thyme and red pepper. Roast until the pine nuts are golden, about 5 minutes.

4. To cook the rice: Add rice to a medium saucepan with 8 cups water and a tablespoon of salt. Bring to a simmer on high and parboil for 7 minutes until the rice is mostly cooked, but still slightly chalky in the middle. Drain the rice through a strainer and rinse under cold water, moving the rice around until it is not long steamy.

5. Heat 8 tablespoons butter with saffron or turmeric until melted. Set aside.

6. To prepare the bowl: Rub the inside of a 12-cup stainless steel bowl with about 3 tablespoons soft butter. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons pine nuts all around. Lay a pita over the base of the bowl with the outside of the pita facing the buttered bowl. Then overlap the cut pitas to over the sides of the bowl, overlapping them like the scales on a fish and making sure that there are no gaps exposing the bowl. They should poke about an inch over the rim of the bowl and you should have 1 to 2 split pitas left once the bowl is lined.

7. . To prep the bombe: Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

8. Spoon half of the squash and shallot mixture into the pita-lined bowl. Spread it flat, then spoon half the rice into the bowl without compacting it. Follow with the remaining squash, the the remaining rice. Using a knife or chopstick poke a few holes through the filling and pour in the seasoned butter.

9. Smear the outside of the remaining pitas with the remaining tablespoon of butter and lay these, buttered side up, on the top of the bombe to encase the filling. Fold over the edges of the pitas and use the remaining tablespoon of plain butter to stick everything together. Loosely lay some foil over the top of the bowl without cinching it closed and bake on the center rack of the oven until the pita walls are toasted and crisp when you remove the the foil and insert a spoon downt he side of the bowl to peek, about 50 minutes.

10. To serve: Discard the foil covering and place a serving platter over the top of the bowl. Flip confidently, then place the platter down on the counter. Lift the bowl away to expose your gleaming, nut encusted bombe. Slice messily, making sure each person gets soome crust along with a spoon of jeweled rice.

    Makes 6 servings.