Pumpkin

Pumpkin and Sage Soufflé

~ louisehad ~ 1 Comment

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I’ve never made a soufflé before as I’ve always associated them with dinner parties and stress and have seen many failed attempts on TV cookery shows. When I saw this recipe in the Sainsbury’s magazine (Oct 2016), I thought of all that leftover pumpkin I still had to use up, and despite my fears, I decided I’d give it a go. I did change of few things in the recipe, mainly because I didn’t read it carefully enough the first time round! I also made my own cheese sauce; the recipe calls for shop bought. The recipe can be found here:

 http://www.sainsburysmagazine.co.uk/recipes/mains/item/roasted-pumpkin-and-sage-souffle. The version below includes my tweaks. The original recipe was for 4 people, but I halved the quantities and still had enough mixture for 4 ramekins. I made this for Saturday lunch and served it with kale and rye bread. It was of course delicious which is why I am sharing the recipe with you.

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Ingredients

250g pumpkin or squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into 2cm cubes

a small handful of sage leaves

1 tbsp olive oil

10g butter, melted, to grease

15g fresh white breadcrumbs

2 medium eggs, separated

 

For the cheese sauce

10g plain flour

10g butter

200ml whole milk

30g grated cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

•     Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6. Put the pumpkin or squash and sage leaves in a roasting tin, drizzle with the oil and roast for 25-30 minutes until tender and slightly golden. Blitz the roasted pumpkin including the sage in a food processor until smooth or simply mash with a fork. Spread out the mixture on a plate to cool.

•      Meanwhile, brush the insides of 4 x 300ml ovenproof ramekins, mugs, teacups or with the butter and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs so the insides are thoroughly coated – this helps the soufflés to rise well.

•      To make the cheese sauce, melt the butter in a pan, add the flour and mix. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and slowly add the milk, whisking as you go. Once the milk has been incorporated, return the pan to the heat and gently simmer, stirring for about 8 minutes. The sauce should start to thicken. After the 8 minutes, add the grated cheese and season with salt and pepper. Remove the pan from the heat and just let the cheese melt. 

•      Tip the cheese sauce into a large bowl. Stir in the egg yolks and cooled mashed pumpkin or squash, and season to taste.

•      In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until they are just holding their shape, then carefully fold into the pumpkin mixture.

•      Divide the mixture equally between the ramekins so it comes about 2cm below the tops. Put the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until well risen but still a bit squidgy in the centre. Serve straight away.

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Pumpkin and Cheese Scones

~ louisehad ~ 2 Comments

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It’s pumpkin season and they are everywhere.  The variety of pumpkins seems to be growing year on year and the choice of shapes, sizes and colours can be a bit overwhelming, but why make a choice when you can have them all; they’re pumpkins after all! So, as you can see from the photo, I’ll be making pumpkin recipes for some time to come. Pumpkins aren’t just for Halloween! This recipe, originally from Sainsbury’s Magazine (October, 2016), really hits the spot. It’s a savoury, cheesy treat, perfect to eat on its own, with butter or instead of a bread roll with soup. 

Ingredients

275g peeled and deseeded pumpkin or butternut squash (about 350g unprepared weight)

225g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon smoked paprika, plus extra to dust

50g soft butter

125g mature cheddar cheese, coarsely grated

2-3 tablespoons milk, plus extra for brushing

2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds

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Directions

·         Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/ gas 7.

·         Chop the pumpkin into rough 2.5cm pieces and put in a microwaveable bowl with 1 tablespoon of water. Cover loosely with clingfilm and pierce in a couple of places. Microwave on high for 5-7 minutes. Drain off any water. Alternatively, wrap the pumpkin loosely in a foil parcel and bake in the oven for 45 minutes until tender.

·         Mash the pumpkin into a puree, then tip it into a sieve over a bowl for 5 minutes to drain off any excess moisture and let it cool slightly.

·         Sift the flour, baking powder and smoked paprika into a mixing bowl and season. Rub in the butter until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in half the cheese.

·         Tip the puree into the mixing bowl and use a table knife to start to blend it into the flour mixture. Add just enough milk to bring it together as a soft, but not sticky, dough.

·         Turn out onto a floured surface and roll or pat out until 2.5cm thick. Use a 5cm cutter to stamp out scones and transfer them to a baking tray lined with baking paper. Re-form the dough to stamp out further rounds until all of it is used up. Brush each scone with a little milk and top with the remaining cheese. Gently press a few pumpkin seeds on top and dust with smoked paprika. 

·         Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until well risen and crisp. Cool slightly before eating.

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Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Rosemary and Butter Beans in Pumpkin Bowls

~ louisehad ~ Leave a comment

Pumpkin bowl with mini pumpkins

I love Halloween. Though I’m too old for trick or treating and apple dunking, I really enjoy the autumnal colours and golden sunshine of this time of year and even the early dark nights are still a novelty. I particularly like pumpkin lanterns, though they were turnip lanterns in my day! So this recipe, with its pumpkin bowl, is a nod to Halloween. You don’t have to go to the trouble of making the pumpkin bowls; the soup tastes just as great in china bowls!

For the Pumpkin Bowls

  • Preheat oven to 200C/180C fan/Gas 4
  • Cut off the top of each pumpkin (the lids).
  • Using a sharp knife, score the flesh 1cm from the skin.
  • Scoop out the flesh, seeds and membranes.
  • Put the pumpkins on a tray and bake for 20 minutes. After 10 minutes, put the lids in the oven too.

NB: You don’t get much pumpkin out of the bowls, so you would need to buy extra pumpkin to make the soup to fill them.

Pumpkin bowl portait

Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Rosemary and Butter Beans (Serves 8)

(Waitrose Recipe Card, October 2015)

1 kg pumpkin peeled and cut into 2cm cubes

6 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar (I used balsamic)

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

8 cloves of garlic (I only used 2)

2 leeks, finely sliced

2 celery stalks, chopped

400g can of butter beans

3 rosemary sprigs

1 red chilli

1 litre chicken stock (I used vegetable stock)

3 tablespoons crème fraiche (I used natural yoghurt)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Pumpkin seeds to garnish

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Directions

  • Preheat oven to 200C/180 fan / Gas 4
  • Toss the pumpkin with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the vinegar, cayenne pepper and garlic cloves. Spread over a foil-lined tray and roast for 25 minutes, turning halfway through.
  • Meanwhile, heat another 1 tablespoon of oil in a saucepan. Roughly chop the leek and celery and sweat over a gentle heat for 15 minutes, until softened. Tip in the roasted squash and squeeze in the flesh from the garlic cloves. Add the chilli, butter beans and rosemary sprigs. Add the stock and 500ml water, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
  • Remove the rosemary sprigs from the soup, then blitz with the crème fraiche, lemon and salt and pepper.
  • Serve warm, topped with pumpkin seeds.

 

Pumpkin and Ginger Loaf

~ louisehad ~ 2 Comments

 

With the winter nights drawing in and the grey, cloudy days the main feature of the weather forecast these days, I want something sweet and spicy to lift my spirits. This cake is delicious. I’ve never had pumpkin in a cake before and ginger is one of my all-time favourite flavours, so obviously I had to try this recipe. The texture is moist and the heat of the ginger is guaranteed to hit the spot and take the edge off the autumnal gloom.

 

Ingredients

(Recipe from BBC Good Food, Birthday Issue, 2014 )

250g pumpkin, peeled and cut into roughly 2 cm pieces

50g black treacle

140g golden syrup

140g light soft brown sugar

100ml semi-skinned milk

110g cold diced butter

250g self-raising flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda

1 teaspoon ginger

2 teaspoons mixed spice

2 medium eggs

5 chunks crystallised ginger, thinly sliced

3 balls stem ginger

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  • Put the pumpkin into a microwave-proof bowl and add a tiny bit of water. Cover with cling film and pierce. Put on full power for 5-8 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft. Drain the water then mash with a fork until smooth.
  • In a saucepan, add the treacle, golden syrup, sugar and milk. Heat gently until the sugar is dissolved.
  • Heat oven to 180 degrees fan (200 degrees). Grease and line a 900g loaf tin with baking parchment.
  • Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, spice and a pinch of salt into a large bowl. Add the butter and rub into the flour with your fingertips until no lumps remain.
  • Whisk the eggs, then add with the pumpkin into the lukewarm syrup mixture. Add to the dry ingredients.
  • Cut the stem ginger balls into thin slices and add to the mixture. Pour the batter into a tin and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out with just a few crumbs on it.
  • Scatter over the crystallised ginger which will stick to the loaf and leave to cool in the tin.

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