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Entries in pumpkin (5)

Tuesday
Mar302010

slow-roasted lamb with sassoun and roasted pumpkin salad

DateTuesday, March 30, 2010 at 15:39

 

i can’t quite believe april is almost here. however, it does make (very clichéd) sense of the very strong cravings that i’ve been having for lamb.

i have a leg of lamb in the freezer which will make an appearance over easter but in the meantime i’ve returned to an old favourite – slow cooked neck of lamb. neck is a good value cut and if it is cooked long and slow it becomes meltingly tender.

i put the lamb, sliced onions and garlic into a foil parcel with rosemary, preserved lemon and a glug of white wine and then cooked it as noted here. this was served with roasted pumpkin and feta (pumpkin is tossed with olive oil, chilli flakes, salt & pepper before cooking, crumbled feta added for the final 10 mins of cooking) and sassoun.

i read about sassoun in a recent copy of cuisine and was instantly reminded of agresto, a zingy walnut-based paste  which i love. sassoun uses almonds in place of walnuts, and mixes them with anchovies, herbs, fennel and olive oil. it works wonderfully with lamb and i will definitely make this again but with one change from the original recipe – i’ll add some lemon zest, and possibly a bit of lemon juice, to lift the flavours so they are even more spring-like.

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Wednesday
Feb032010

cheesy pumpkin and thyme quesadillas

DateWednesday, February 3, 2010 at 06:00

i made vast quantities of empanadas for our latino party. i used the smitten kitchen recipe for empanada pastry which was, as deb says, very easy to work with. it’s an interesting pastry as it contains vinegar, which i’ve not come across before, and which is slightly confusing as you smell hints of it when working with the pastry. it’s also a deliciously light and flaky pastry which would, i think, be good for lots of pasty recipes.

i made two fillings. one was deb’s chicken olive and chorizo mix, the other a cheese and pumpkin combination. both worked really well but, as my pumpkin was huge (a wonderfully textured and flavoured crown prince – if you find orange pumpkins bland and watery give this grey-green variety a try) i had lots leftover which we used to make quesadillas with.

this was my first foray into the world of quesadillas and i was surprised how easy it was and how filling they were – two each and both david and i were full. we also found the leftover chilli sweetcorn and courgette bake to be a good quesadilla filling. 

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Wednesday
Dec092009

pumpkin, pistachio and sage ravioli with a saffron cheese sauce

DateWednesday, December 9, 2009 at 21:31

 

sorry for the quiet blog, it’s been a crazy few weeks – mystery bugs, food poisoning (avoid crystal palace football club!), a slip down the stairs (if anyone has any tips on how to sort out a bruised coccyx, let me know – 3 weeks on and i’m still in a lot of pain!) and a busy time at work.

however, i’m getting myself back on track and last weekend i made the effort to spend some time in the kitchen. i had a huge pumpkin which needed using so i roasted it with olive oil, chilli flakes, salt and pepper then settled down with my cookery books to find inspiration.

dennis cotter’s book was where i stopped and i decided to try his recipe for pumpkin, pistachio and sage ravioli with a saffron cheese sauce. stodge of the first degree but hopefully stodge that is soothing to make (kneading and stirring always calm me down) and delicious to eat.

sadly it wasn’t that simple. my beautiful orange pumpkin had very little flavour. i don’t know what variety it was but i’ll be sticking to butternut squash or specific varieties of pumpkin which i know taste good, such as those recommended by dennis cotter. the grey-green crown prince is a particular favourite of his.

the dish was a bit bland as a result which, for me, wasn’t helped by the very gentle flavours of the rest of the dish. i tried to add a bit of interest with some wilted spinach and a fresh tomato sauce (olive oil, garlic and tomatoes slow-cooked to make a thick sauce). the sauce really helped balance the mildly flavoured nut and pumpkin ravioli and the rich and creamy saffron cheese sauce.

this is not my kind of dish but if you want soothing stodge in the style of macaroni cheese (which i do love and it is my first choice on cold wet days) then maybe you’ll enjoy eating this as much as i enjoyed making it.

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Thursday
Nov262009

roast partridge with pumpkin, pancetta and px

DateThursday, November 26, 2009 at 07:00

our pomegranate and parma ham salad was followed by roasted partridges with pumpkin, chorizo and pancetta. i used a nigel slater recipe from a recent edition of observer food monthly, making a few adaptations along the way.

sadly i can’t tell you anything about how delicious this was – which apparently it was – as i had food poisoning from the night before and eating that light salad starter was as far as i got.

i did get to use the leftover roasted pumpkin, chorizo and pancetta in a risotto though, which was very delish.

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Thursday
Nov122009

roasted squash

DateThursday, November 12, 2009 at 06:00

i've been eating a lot of squash recently. these small squash - acorn and onion - were roasted with their skins still on (they are soft enough to eat) with garlic, chilli flakes, salt, pepper and olive oil. i added a few baby carrots as well and we had them with roast chicken instead of the more predictable, and very dull, roast potatoes.

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