Oval dish — a novel type to begin with (5)
I believe the answer is:
ashet
'oval dish' is the definition.
'ashet' can be an answer for 'dish' (I've seen this before). I am not certain of the 'oval' bit.
'a novel type to begin with' is the wordplay.
'novel' becomes 'she' (I've seen this before).
'to begin with' says to take the initial letters.
The first letter of 'type' is 't'.
'a'+'she'+'t'='ASHET'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ashet that I've seen before include "Plate that's large" , "northern dish" , "Large plate or dish (Scottish)" , "Scottish meat-plate" , "Shallow serving-dish" .)