3 Ways With Pumpkin

Recipes to warm you up this January with the delicious & versatile squash family

These recipes were first shared by Barcombe Organics, who commissioned me to write them for their Veg Box customers to give them some inspiration. You can find them and more recipes on the Barcombe Nurseries website - have a look at their delicious organic veg while you are there!

Sweet Spiced Stuffed Squash

This recipe was inspired by my friend Myriam Murray who shared a sweet pumpkin recipe on her Facebook page. While I had heard of pumpkin pie, I had never before encountered a whole sweet baked pumpkin or squash recipe & instantly loved the idea. You can play around with the fruit and nut combination – flavours I look forward to trying are Date & Pecan, Apricot & Hazelnut – I also think it would be delicious with some cooking apple flesh grated in & maybe a little coconut…

Sweet Spiced Stuffed Squash

Small round squash or pumpkin around 750g

50g rolled oats

30g butter

20g soft brown sugar

½ tablespoon ground cinnamon

50g flaked almonds

100g dried fruit – I used a premixed bag with cranberries, candied peel, raisins & sultanas

1 tbsp maple syrup

Extra cinnamon for sprinkling

·      Preheat your oven to 180c (160c fan).

·      Carefully halve the squash widthways with a large sharp knife and scoop out the seeds.

·      Put the oats, butter, sugar & cinnamon in a large bowl and mix them together with your fingers, as you would make a crumble topping.

·      Add the flaked almonds & dried fruit & stir in with a wooden spoon.

·      Fill the cavities of each half of squash with your mixture, pressing it down as you go, it should slightly overfill the cavities, making a small mound above the height of the squash flesh.

·      Drizzle each half with the maple syrup and sprinkle a generous pinch of cinnamon over the exposed squash edge.

·      Cover loosely with foil and pop in the centre of your hot oven, bake for 20 minutes or until the flesh of the squash is soft and the filling is crunchy & lightly browned.

·      Serve hot or cold. Delicious cold with Greek yoghurt for breakfast or hot with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Baked Squash Risotto

Quick & easy, this dish does most of the cooking on its own…

Baked Squash Risotto

500g squash/pumpkin peeled & cut into 3cm dice

150g shallots, peeled & quartered

3 cloves of garlic, sliced or crushed

300g Arborio risotto rice

1 litre stock

Handful of cherry tomatoes

Few torn basil leaves & a handful of chopped parsley

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

·      Preheat your oven to 180c (160c fan).

·      In a large roasting tray lay out the diced squash & quartered shallots so they lie in a single layer. Drizzle generously with a tablespoon or 2 of olive oil & season well with salt & pepper. Pop in the top of your hot oven for 10 minutes.

·      While the squash is cooking heat another couple of tablespoons of olive oil (or some butter if you prefer) in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Once hot add the rice and stir until it is all well coated in the oil (or butter), add 100ml of stock and stir well, you want to encourage the rice to start releasing its starch. Once the stock has evaporated add a little more, stir well again – the liquid should be starting to thicken around the rice grains now.

·      Add the chopped or crushed garlic, stir & cook for a minute or 2 until the garlic becomes fragrant, add the remaining stock to the pan, stir well.

·      This should take about 10 minutes & so by now your squash & shallots will be softening a little and taking on a some colour. Remove the tray from the oven and add the rice & stock from the pan, gently stir together being careful not to bash the squash too hard.

·      Scatter the tomatoes & herbs over the top of the rice.

·      Cover the tray with a tight lid of foil and return to the middle of the oven, bake for 30 minutes.

·      After 30 minutes remove the tray from the oven and carefully lift off the foil – there will be a lot of hot steam underneath.

·      Gently stir the risotto and check that the rice is cooked to your liking. If not add another 100ml of boiling water or stock to the pan and return to the oven uncovered for another 5 minutes.

·      Optional extras - Finish with a generous grating of parmesan cheese or some freshly grated lemon zest - chilli oil is a big favourite with everything in our house & is delicious with this dish.

·      Other embellishments to the recipe – add 100ml of white wine to the pan before you start to add the stock, stir until it has evaporated and then continue as the recipe describes. Stir in some spinach leaves 5 minutes before the end of cooking time, recover the pan with its foil lid & return it to the oven….this is a versatile recipe that can withstand much improvisation!

Roasted Root Laksa

When days are short and cold, a comforting bowl of soupy rice or noodles has to be one of our family favorites. If the warmth of hot soup is heightened with some extra heat from chillies, garlic & ginger, the comfort enhanced with a tin of creamy coconut milk and the mingling flavours lifted with fresh lime juice, chopped coriander & mint, the over all effect is hard to beat.

We can only be talking here about laksa.

After much experimentation with a vegan laksa recipe, I am properly happy with this final manifestation of many trials; I hope that you enjoy it.

Roasted Root Laksa

Vegan & Gluten Free

Serves 4

For the Paste

2 shallots, roughly chopped

8 cloves of garlic, peeled and halved

A thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

2 lemongrass stalks, hard outer leaves removed and chopped

1 fresh red chilli, roughly chopped

2 dried Kashmiri chillies, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon of red miso paste

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 tablespoon of brown sugar

For the Soup

700g of root vegetables – I used carrots, parsnips and butternut squash

1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

2 shallots, peeled and sliced

1 red pepper, halved length ways, deseeded and sliced

1 tin coconut milk

500ml vegetable stock

To Finish

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

small bunch coriander, chopped

handful of mint leaves, chopped

200g of spinach

200g of beansprouts

5 spring onions, sliced

1 fresh red chilli, thinly sliced

1 lime, quartered

200g rice noodles, cooked to packet instructions, drained and cooled under running water

·      Place all of the laksa paste ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth.

·      Peel and chop your root vegetables into equally sized chunks and place in a roasting tray with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Place in a preheated oven at 200c and roast for 20-30 minutes, turning occasionally.

·      Heat the oil in a large heavy based saucepan, add the shallots and cook for 5 minutes until starting to go golden on the edges. Add the sliced red pepper and cook gently for 10 minutes until soft and beginning to caramelize.

·      Add the laksa paste and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the paste becomes aromatic.

·      Pour the coconut milk and stock into the pan and bring to a gentle simmer.

·      Meanwhile the vegetables should be cooked. Check to make sure that they are tender and then add them to the broth in the pan.

·      Use a potato masher to gently break up the vegetables. You may choose to blend your soup smooth.

·      To finish, add the sugar and soy sauce, stir to combine.

·      Divide your cooked and cooled rice noodles between 4 bowls.

·      Scatter over a handful of spinach leaves, a handful of beansprouts, a sprinkling of chopped herbs, spring onions and chilli.

·      Ladle over the roasted root and coconut broth – this will heat through your noodles and gently wilt the spinach.

·      Finish with a squeeze of lime juice.