Air Fryer Brussel Sprouts, Chestnuts, & Squash

I bought a pack of reduced 'Red Darling' brussel sprouts in Aldi a few weeks ago to decorate our Christmas wreath, but had quite a lot left over.

I'd bought Aldi Whole Chestnuts around the same time, and had half a small pumpkin that needing using too. So I thought I'd toss them all in the air fryer.

If you like kale crisps, this is definitely one for you, as the outer leaves go lovely and crispy.

Serves 2

200g ready to eat chestnuts

200g trimmed brussel sprouts, halved

200g cubed squash (butternut squash, pumpkin)

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

A large pinch of salt.

Place all the ingredients into a air fryer liner, and toss well to coat in the oil.

Air fry at 180C for 8 minutes, stir everything around, then air fry for another 8 minutes.

I was going to make hummus to serve this on but ran out of time, so instead made a hot salad with some lettuce and thinly sliced onion.  I made a tahini dressing with 2 tbsp tahini, 4 tbsp kefir (or plain yoghurt), and crushed garlic.

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Air Fryer Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Oh my, why didn’t I try roasting pumpkin seeds in the air fryer sooner?

I didn’t have room in the oven last night for a tray of pumpkin seeds, so thought I’d try roasting them in the air fryer.  It works so well! 

Rinsed pumpkin seeds

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Paprika 

Salt

Rinse the pumpkin seeds to remove as much of the pumpkin flesh stuck to them as possible. I do this by covering them with water and swirling them around with my fingers. Most of the flesh will sink to the bottom of the bowl, leaving clean(ish) seeds floating on top. 

Drain the pumpkin seeds and roast them in the air fryer for 5 minutes at 180 C to dry them a little.

After drying, tip in a small bowl and stir in the olive oil, and paprika and salt to taste.

Return the seasoned seeds to the air fryer and cook for a further 10 minutes at 180C.

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Zoe Science & Nutrition Baked Root Vegetable Medley

With beetroot and half a butternut squash to use up on New Year's Eve, and a vegetarian to cater for, I tried this recipe I saw on @Zoe instagram account.  In spite forgetting to set an oven timer due to the jollity of board games and sparkling wine, it turned out well.  I had the last serving today on homemade wholegrain sourdough toast drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.

Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side 

1 sweet potato

1 small squash

1 beetroot

5 Jerusalem artichokes (didn't use - used several small beetroot and large sweet potato instead)

1 handful cashews, soaked in boiling water for at least 10 minutes

400g tin of white beans (recipe said drained, but I didn't) 

1 tsp miso paste

a few sprigs of thyme

2 cloves of garlic

100ml milk of choice (used the bean liquid instead)

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste.

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Thinly slice your vegetables using a knife or mandolin and layer into an ovenproof dish with fresh thyme.

In a blender, combine the beans, soaked cashews, garlic, milk and miso paste into a pourable sauce. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.

Cover the vegetables with the sauce and push down to ensure they are submerged. Drizzle the olive oil over the top and place in the oven for around an hour until the vegetables are soft and the top is golden and crispy.

My tips; brush some additional olive oil over the bottom and sides of your baking dish.  Also, my vegetables were not submerged by the sauce so I covered the dish with some aluminium foil.

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Air Fryer or Oven Roasted Vegetable Salad

Now it is Sunday Roast season, I am putting a tray of mixed vegetables in the oven whilst the roast is cooking if there is space, or after.  These vegetables are then a potted up with some pulses, seeds/nuts, and a dressing as a grab and go midweek packed lunch.

Last Sunday I roasted half a cauliflower and half a squash, and mixed in a can of drained chickpeas after roasting the dish.  As the spice mix (leftover from my son making southern fried chicken) I tossed the veg in before cooking was really quite spicy, I made a cooling tahini dressing with a few spinach leaves whizzed in just for colour. It filled three takeaway containers.  A few weeks before I roasted 500g beetroot and 750g sweet potato

Firm vegetables roast well; squash, sweet potato, cauliflower, beetroot, carrot, parsnips, celeriac, fennel. But softer vegetables (aubergine, courgette, onion, peppers, cabbage) work well too, just with less cooking.

Toss the vegetables in a few tablespoons of olive oil and roast for around 45 minutes at 200C in a fan oven, or 20 minutes in an air fryer at 180C. You can add a little salt, paprika, cumin, or harissa as you wish. Toss/stir around halfway through the cooking time. 

Add a tin of drained green lentils, beans, or chickpeas, sprinkle over some mixed seeds, add some cheese (feta, goats cheese, cottage cheese) if you like, and a dressing like tahini dressing, vinaigrette, chermoula, chimichurri, zhoug, or salsa verde.

If feeling the need for some more carbs, adding some cooked quinoa, pearl barley, pasta, couscous etc

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Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

An unexpected spaghetti squash arrived in our Riverford vegbox last week.  We had such a meaty cooked breakfast for yesterday morning for one of my daughter's birthday meals, that my partner half jokingly said we should eat the squash for dinner, before he went out for the day to his elderly mother's.

Googling 'spaghetti squash recipes' brought me back to Riverford's recipes, and their Pesto Stuffed Spaghetti Squash with Breadcrumbs & Mozzarella. As we did not have any mozzarella to spare (today's homemade pizza is the last birthday meal) I thought I'd use feta, which sent me off on a Greek inspired filling.

Serves 2

1 medium to large spaghetti squash

200g feta

50g pine nuts

1 tbsp chopped or dried mint

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed

1/4 tsp chilli flakes (optional)

1 handful breadcrumbs (1 thin slice of bread 'liquidised)

Extra virgin olive oil

Pepper & salt

Preheat the oven to 180C whilst you split the squash in half from top to bottom.  Scrape out the seeds, and reserve for roasting.  Rub a little olive oil, salt,and pepper on the flesh of the squash.

Bake cut side down with 1 tbsp water under each half for 25-30 minutes until the flesh can pulled into shreds easily with a fork.

Scrape the flesh into a bowl with the feta, pine nuts, mint, garlic, chilli if using, and 1 tbsp olive oil.  

Mix well and refill the two squash shells.  Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the filling and drizzle over a little olive oil.

Bake for another 8-10 minutes until the breadcrumbs are a golden brown.

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Kolokythopita, Greek Butternut Squash Puff Pastry Pie

This one pan Greek butternut squash pie is made a lot easier replacing filo pastry with puff pastry.

Serves 4

1 pack puff pastry
1kg butternut squash, peeled & cut into small cubes

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, peeled and diced

1 red chilli, seeded & finely diced

1 tbsp greek oregano or thyme 

1 large garlic clove, peeled & crushed

200g feta cheese, drained & cubed

Preheat the oven to 200C

Place the butternut squash on a large baking sheet. Toss with the olive oil and roast for 30 minutes until the squash is tender then remove from the oven to cool.  

When the butternut squash is cool enough to handle turn the oven bacon to 180C, and  mix the onion, garlic, chilli, herbs, and feta together on the baking sheet.

Unroll the pastry, keeping it on the greaseproof paper. With a long side facing you, slide/pull the pastry away from you so that 1/3rd of the greaseproof paper is showing at the front. Carefully tip your mixed filling along the middle of the pastry then pull the top long edge down over the filling to line up with the bottom long edge (like a long sausage roll), and crimp closed with a fork. Make diagonal slashes in the top with nothing more than the weight of a very sharp knife. But don't worry you puncture the casing.

Wipe the baking tray with some kitchen roll then lift the pie on it's greaseproof paper onto the baking tray. bake at 180C for 40 minutes until golden brown.

Serve with a crisp green salad.

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Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Roasting pumpkin seeds is such an easy and healthy thing to do.

Simply save your seeds from pumpkin, rinse off as much of the stringy flesh as you can then toss in about 1 tsp vegetable oil, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, and a good pinch of salt.

Place in a small shallow dish and roast at 180-200C for about 40 minutes.  

As it is a little extravagant to turn the oven on just for this, I squeeze these into the oven whilst baking something else like bread or a roast.

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Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

I started off thinking I was going to make a vegetarian Shepherd's Pie with soya mince, but a harvest of homegrown squash changed my mind/ingredients to squash and lentil.

This can be made vegan by using plant based spread, milk, and cheese in the mashed potato topping. And swapping Marmite for Worcestershire Sauce.

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and diced

1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1 large stick of celery, diced
1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed
500g squash, swede, or parsnips, peeled and grated
1 can green lentils, or 150g green lentils cooked as per instructions
500g passata
500ml just boiled water
1 vegetable stock cube 

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1kg white potatoes
Large knob of butter
Whole milk

50g grated mature cheddar

Sweat the onion, carrot and celery in the olive oil for about 10 minutes with the lid. Add the garlic and grated vegetables and gently fry for another 10 minutes, making sure they don't catch on the bottom of the pan.

Add passata, lentils, water and crumbled stock cube.  Bring to the boil then simmer with a lid on for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.  Stir from time to time to make sure the pan is not drying out, adding more boiled water if it is.

Roughly chop the potatoes.  I leave the skins on, but my kids aren't keen on this timesaving approach.  Pour over boiling water, cover,  and boil for 10 minutes with a little salt until the potatoes are soft.  When soft, drain and mash with the butter and milk until you have a spreadable mash.

Pour the lentil & vegetable base into a lasagna dish.  Plop spoonfuls of mash over the mix to cover the surface.  Rough the potato up with a fork or a spoon to help it brown in the oven.  Sprinkle over cheese and bake for 40 minutes at 200C or until the liquid from the vegetable mix is bubbling up round the sides of the potato.  If not browned to your taste, place the pie under the grill watching it very carefully if you do.

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Vegan Courgette & Cashew Nut Curry

The kids were horrified to learn I was planning to make courgette curry (or any dish for that matter) with my courgette glut.  I've made a couple of courgette curries before, a Courgette Sabzi and Malai Kofta, so thought I'd kind of combine the two. I am honoured to learn that this curry has made it onto my 15 year old daughter's very short list of acceptable courgette dishes.

Serves 4

500g/3 large courgettes, grated

2-4 tbsp vegetable oil

2 onions, finely sliced

1 large clove of garlic, finely diced or crushed

1cm fresh ginger, finely diced or grated

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp brown mustard seeds

2 tsp ground coriander

500g carton of passata 

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp garam masala

Large pinch extra strong chilli flakes

50g cashew nuts

1 tsp salt

Ideally, fry the grated courgettes in advance. If not, just fry the courgettes best you can after frying the onions.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large frying pan over a medium high heat. When hot add each courgette as you grate it and spread out to a single layer fry for a few minutes. You want them to fry rather than steam. Add each courgette as you grate it, push the courgettes the pan to the side, and spreading  out the 'new' courgette out as much as possible and continue frying. The courgette is ready when slightly translucent and lightly brown. Turn off the heat.

In a large saucepan heat another 2 tbsp oil and add the sliced onions. Fry gently until they start to go lightly brown and caramelise.  Add the dry spices, stir around, then add the courgette and passata, half a carton of recently boiled water. Stir and bring to the boil. Cover and turn down to a simmer for 20 minutes.

Weigh the cashews into the carton then pour over half a carton of boiling water and leave to soften whilst the curry simmers.

After 20 minutes, liquidise the cashews in the warm water and add to the curry together with the salt. Bring to the boil again. Like most curries this benefits from standing as long as possible for the flavours to develop. But it can be served as soon as the cashew cream shot.  Serve over basmati rice.

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Vegan Moroccan Sweet Potato & Lentil Stew (Harira)

My children do not look forward to #veganmonday, but this stew went down well.

Serves a hearty 6

2 large sweet potatoes (or a small butternut squash or pumpkin)
100g red lentils
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 stick celery
1 small carrot
1 onion
1 large clove of garlic
1tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1/8th tsp hot chilli flakes
1 tsp red wine vinegar
2 vegetable stock cube
1 litre just boiled water

Grate the sweet potato, and finely dice all the vegetables.

Fry the onion, celery, carrot, and pumpkin gently until the onion begins to soften slightly.  Add the tomato paste, garlic, and cumin seeds and fry for a minute more before adding the rest of the ingredients.

Bring to the boil then cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring from time to time making sure nothing is catching on the bottom of the pan.  The stew is ready when the vegetables and lentils are soft.

Serve with bulgur wheat, couscous, or brown rice.

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Moroccan Squash & Lentil Soup or Stew

I’m in a bit of a Moroccan mood this week.

Following my tagine on Monday, I looked up more Moroccan recipes and made myself this Pumpkin & Lentil soup.  It could easily be made with butternut squash, or sweet potato. And, using less liquid it could also be a stew served over couscous or Bulgar wheat.

Serves 4

1 small pumpkin, half a butternut squash or 1 large sweet potato
100g red lentils
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 stick celery
1 small carrot
1 onion
1 large clove of garlic
1tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/8th tsp hot chilli flakes
1 tsp red wine vinegar
2 vegetable stock cube
1 litre just boiled water

Finely dice all the vegetables.

Fry the onion, celery, carrot, and pumpkin gently until the onion begins to soften slightly.  Add the tomato paste, garlic, and cumin seeds and fry for a minute more before adding the rest of the ingredients.

Bring to the boil then cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring from time to time making sure nothing is catching on the bottom of the pan.  The soup is ready when the vegetables and lentils are soft.

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Vegan & Vegetarian Squash or Sweet Potato & Chickpea Tagine

I planned to make this dish with butternut squash, but discovered I did not have the one I thought we had.  So made it with sweet potato instead.  The kids were initially wary, but announced it smelt good as it was served up, and were surprisingly okay.

Serves 5 (or a greedy 4)

1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
1 large sweet potato or half a medium sized butternut squash, grated or cubed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp honey
400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 tin boiling water
1 tin chickpeas
2 vegetable stock cubes
2 tsp dried mint

Fry the onion in the oil in a casserole dish for about 5 minutes over a medium heat until it starts to colour.  Add the garlic, cinnamon, cumin and ginger and continue frying for another couple of minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients and heat until boiling. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes until the squash or sweet potato is meltingly soft.

Serve with couscous or bulghur wheat.

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Vegetarian & Vegan Squash & Lentil Dhansak Curry

Made this dhansak for #meatlessmonday, which I have turned into veganmonday in our house. The kids like curry, providing I can make the vegetables unrecognisable.

Serves 4-6

500g cubed or grated butternut squash, pumpkin, or other squash 
100g red lentils
1 400g tin tomatoes
1 large onion
1 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp turmeric
6 black peppercorns
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
4 green cardamons, seeds only
4 cloves of garlic
2.5cm root ginger
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp hot chilli flakes
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp dried mint

Peel and finely slice the onion.  Fry in the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat until it begins to caramelise.  Add the finely chopped garlic, ginger, and ground spices and stir round for a minute or so.

Pour in the chopped tomatoes, 2 cans of just boiled water, lentils, and the rest of the ingredients.

Simmer for 30 minutes with a lid on, stirring from time to time.  If, at the end of the cooking time, the curry is too runny for your tastes simmer it for 10 minutes with the lid off to reduce it a little.

At home we serve this with basmati rice which has been cooked with a large pinch of cumin seeds and a handful of frozen peas.

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Dairy Free Courgette & Lime Cake

What to do with a courgette/marrow glut...continued.

I believe this is a Nigella Lawson recipe. which I found on someone else's blog.  I made it as an all in one recipe in the food processor as is my wont, rather than the more traditional cream and stir in method.  It is also supposed to be a sandwich cake, but I make 2 loaves and iced them in their lining paper to take to market.

250-300g courgette/marrow
125ml sunflower oil
150g sugar
225g self raising flour
2 eggs
1 heaped tsp baking powder
1 tbsp lime juice
50g raisins (optional)

Icing
2 tbsp lime juice
Icing sugar (about 20 heaped teaspoons)

Makes 2 small loaves/cakes (2lb loaf or 21cm round tins)

If using raisins, leave these to plump up in a little boiling water as you start making the cake.

Wash and roughly chop the courgette (I had to peel mine as it had grown tough like a pumpkin's as it was the size of a marrow).  Chop the courgette in the food processor to a fairly fine rubble.  Tip into your tin.

Cream the sugar, oil, and eggs in the food processor.  Don't worry if any bits of courgette are still in the bowl. Add the flour, lime juice (I used bottled lime juice from Aldi), and baking powder and mix again until smooth.

Add the courgette, and raisins if using, and quickly mix to incorporate.

Spoon and divide equally into 2 lined cake tins.  Bake at 180C for 30 minutes.

Mix the lime juice for the icing with enough icing sugar to make a cream like consistency, halfway between double and extra thick cream.  You want to be able to pour it on but not have it run off the cake like milk.

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Spiced Pumpkin Muffins

Making Pumpkin & Ginger Jam yesterday morning gave me a great idea for the 24 little cakes I need to make for the infant school.

There is a River Cottage recipe for marbled muffins (sadly not available online right now I’ve just seen), and I thought I’d stir in some pumpkin jam.  But as my jam just fitted into five jars with none leftover I’ve had to revise my plan, and use my go-to fresh fruit/vegetable muffin recipe.

I only began making muffins a few years ago.  Before that my sister in law would put me to shame, effortlessly wiping up a batch as soon as she saw black banana or the like.  My muffins, by comparison, were more solid than rock cakes and even more inedible.

Then I stumbled across this recipe on the web.  I’m not sure where it came from, but it works.  My muffins are soft, slightly moist and most importantly, edible. I use these quantities for fresh fruit/veg + dried ingredient for consistently reliable results ie beetroot & white chocolate, apple & raisin, banana & choc chip, courgette & raisin, carrot & raisin (carrot cake) etc etc.

250g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

110g sugar

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 handful (50g) mixed dried fruit

80ml sunflower oil

150ml milk

1 egg

170g grated pumpkin

Place 12 muffin cases into a muffin tray.  If, however, you want big American sized muffins, I would suggest 8-10 muffin cases only.  You’ll have to experiment!

Weigh out the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix with a fork to break up any lumps of flour.

Measure out the milk and oil and whisk in the egg.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry and fold in until only just mixed.  The trick to not making solid muffins, I have learnt, is not not overmix.  And a few patches of dry flour is okay.

Spoon immediately into the muffin cases. Sprinkle the tops with brown sugar if you wish.

Bake for 20-25 minutes at 190C/170C Fan, turning the tray halfway through cooking.  Bake until the muffins are lightly browned and spring back when touched.  Leave to cool on a cooling rack until bearable.

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Pumpkin & Ginger Jam

Wow! Pumpkin jam, where have you been all my life? I cannot thank @BootstrapCook enough for her post about pumpkin jam. On reading her post about making pumpkin jam, I went to my mother’s old 1963 Marguerite Patten Jams Pickles and Chutneys cookbook (otherwise known as my jam and chutney making Bible) and found several recipes for pumpkin jam. The first, simply called Pumpkin Jam, contained ginger and lemon juice. The next, Pumpkin & Lemon had more lemon, and the third was Pumpkin & Orange. But it was the first, and the almost hidden detail of ginger that caught my eye, and taste buds.


I have just finished making my first ever five pots of what I shall be calling Pumpkin & Ginger Jam when I sell some at Alresford Country Market. In the between typing I will be scraping out my saucepan for the very last smear of deliciousness.

First, its colour is fantastic. It is translucent, almost glowing in the jar. Second, it’s taste. I tried to mathematically proportion down from the original recipe the amount of ginger for the amount of pumpkin I had. I applied my best GCSE maths and, I believe, have come out with the correct proportion.  But, for a jam that just calls itself simply ‘pumpkin jam’,  it has one hell of a warming gingery kick to it.  As I have said, however, I am still enjoying it still warm out of the saucepan, and maybe the gingeriness will calm a little when cool.  However, for this reason though, I do not feel I could sell it at the Country Market without making some mention of ginger in its name for fear of startling the pensioners who are our customer base.

Sadly 1kg of pumpkin only gives 5 small jars of jam. Luckily I do have another 4kg of dismembered pumpkin in my freezer.  Next year I may magic the kids pumpkins away even sooner and just blame it on the witches.

1kg skinned, cubed, boiled, & drained pumpkin

1kg sugar

Zest & juice of 1 lemon

40g root ginger

Skin the ginger and finely chop.  Add to the pan with the rest of the ingredients.  When the sugar has dissolved, use a stick blender to puree everything in the pan.  Bring it to the boil and stir regularly for 20 minutes.  Test for a set on a very cold saucer and continue boiling and stirring for another 5 minutes and repeat the process.  It took about half an hour for mine to reach the consistency I wanted.

Seal in sterilised jam jars.

And this newfound joy that is the marriage of pumpkin and ginger has given me a great idea for the 24 little cakes I have to make for school cafe tomorrow…Spiced Pumpkin Muffins

Original Marguerite Patten recipe
Cooking Time 40 minutes

3lb pumpkin

3lb sugar

Zest & juice of 2 lemons

2oz root ginger

1. Boil the pumpkin until tender

2. Drain well and mash thoroughly

3. Add the lemon rind and juice

4.  Add ginger cut into neat pieces.

5.  Bring to the boil

6. Add sugar and stir until dissolved

7.  Boil for 20 minutes or until thick

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Classic Roasted Pumpkin Soup

A random tweet about Autumn things, and the fact that slugs had detected a weakness in my kids' pumpkin's soft underbelly, found me googling 'classic pumpkin soup' the other day.

There are a wealth of recipes out there, some less classic than others, but in the end I settled on an American recipe - and then tweeked it.  I really wasn't sure about the spices, and cinnamon in particular, thinking I was going to end up with a pumpkin pie affair on my hands.  But it works.  I ended up with a lovely warming savoury soup.  Just what I was after.

Serves 6-8 (It made 4x 500ml pots)
Cooking time 1.5 hours 

1 medium pumpkin (scrapings from the inside of your halloween pumpkin can be used instead)
1 medium onion
1 carrot
1 stick of celery
1 clove of garlic
1tbsp olive oil
1 litre chicken or vegetable stock (2 stock cubes + 1l recently boiled water)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp sweet paprika
100g full fat soft cheese

Cut the pumpkin into quarters and scrape out the seeds (these can be rinsed, tossed in oil, salt, and paprika, spread out on a shallow roasting tin and roasted at the same time as the pumpkin).  Rub a little olive oil into the quarters, sprinkle over a little salt and roast on a baking tray for about 1 hour at 200C until the pumpkin cuts like butter with a knife.  Remove from the oven and leave to cool whilst you prepare the other vegetables.

Peel and roughly chop the onion, garlic and carrot.  Fry the onion and garlic gently in a saucepan, adding the carrot when it is ready, and then the roughly chopped celery. Stir the vegetables for about 5-10 minutes to allow them to soft but not brown.

Scoop out the soft pumpkin flesh and add this to the softening vegetables.  Stir around and then add the stock and spices.  Bring to the boil and then simmer for 20 minutes.

Take off the heat and leave to cool a little with the lid off for 5 or so minutes before liquidising with a stick blender.  After a first quick blitz, add the soft cheese and blitz again until the soup is smooth and silky.  I had to add a couple of teaspoons of sugar as the pumpkin had a slightly bitter aftertaste for some strange reason, but hopefully yours will not.

And I have promised to buy the kids another pumpkin to carve next week.

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Thai Spiced Pumpkin & Potato Soup

When carving pumpkins, I always scrape out as much of the flesh (and seeds) as I can.  A few seeds are dried for growing next year (I grew my first ever pumpkin this year from seeds from a salvaged from supermarket pumpkin last year) and the rest are roasted as nibbles.  The flesh in frozen and used in risottos or soups.

As carving pumpkins are grown for, well err carving, rather than flavour I think they need quite a lot of help.  Something which the Thai flavours certainly do.

Serves 4

250g pumpkin, or butternut squash flesh
250g white potato
1 clove of garlic
1 small onion
1/2 tbsp sunflower oil
500ml water
400ml coconut milk
2 vegetable or chicken stock cube
1 tsp red curry paste (or vegan Thai curry paste if preferred)
 zest of 1/2 lemon

Roughly chop the onion and fry in a saucepan with the sunflower oil.  Once softened add roughly chopped garlic, chopped potato (you don't need to peel it - it's going to be liquidised), and curry paste.  Fry for a couple of minutes then add the coconut milk, a can full of recently boiled water, and the kaffir lime leaves or zest.  Simmer for 20 minutes until the potato is soft.  Liquidise and add fish sauce to taste.

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Jamie & Riverford's Spicy Roasted Squash Soup

After discovering the joys of Riverford's Roasted Carrot Soup earlier in the week, I thought I'd try the Riverford roasting trick on another vegetable from their vegbox - a butternut squash.

There were recipes on Riverford's website for roasted butternut squash soup but I thought I'd follow  Jamie Oliver's Spicy Roasted Squash recipe from back in the days of The Naked Chef, and then puree the squash with stock like Riverford's carrot soup.

Again, roasting weaved it's magic.  The butternut squash was sweet and hearty, and not at all floury as it can be when not cooked thoroughly.  And the spices gave a nice warming crunch to the soup.

Serves 2

Half a medium butternut squash (about 500g)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4tsp fennel seeds
Large pinch of chilli flakes
Large pinch of salt
Large pinch ground black pepper
1 clove of garlic
1-1.2l boiled water
1 organic low salt stock cube

Pre-heat oven to 200C.

Cut the butternut squash in half from top to bottom.  Scrape the seeds out with a spoon and save for planting or roasting.  Peel with a potato peeler or sharp knife.  I tried leaving the skin on but it was too tough to eat, and quite fiddly to remove when hot.  Chop the peeled  butternut squash into large chunks and place in the roasting tray.

Pour over the oil and all the other ingredients.  Grate or crush over the garlic.  Turn everything over in your hands to ensure the squash is thoroughly coated with all the flavourings.  Roast for 30 minutes, turning everything over with a fish slice as much as you can half way through.

Once cooked, place everything into a liquidiser.  Pour some of the boiling water into the roasting tray, scrape off all the caramelised squash and spices, and pour carefully into the liquidiser.  Add the rest of the water and the stock cube and blitz.  Check for seasoning and add more water if you like a looser texture. 

Lamb Dhansak or Lamb, Lentil, & Butternut Squash Curry

Last Friday was supposed to be my first Curry Night of 2013, selling a choice of two chilled curries at my local school at afternoon pick-up. But the snow put pay to that.

I did, however, work on a recipe during the week that I was quite pleased with. So I will post it so I can find it next time!

Serves 4-6 (generous)
630 Calories per serving (excluding rice)

450g diced lamb
450g butternut squash
100g red lentils
1 400g tin tomatoes
1 large onion
1 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp turmeric
6 black peppercorns
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
4 green cardamons, seeds only
4 cloves of garlic
2.5cm root ginger
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp hot chilli flakes
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp salt
Handful of chopped fresh coriander or 2 tbsp dried mint

Peel and cut the butternut squash to the same size as the diced lamb.  Peel and roughly chop the onion.  Put the onion, butternut squash, lentils and tomatoes into a saucepan and cover with water.  Bring to the boil, add the turmeric, cover with a lid and simmer for 25 minutes until the vegetables are quite soft.

Whilst the vegetables are simmering, finely chop the garlic and ginger.  In a dry frying pan, dry roast the coriander, cumin, peppercorns, and fenugreek seeds for a couple of minutes until the spices smell quite hot.  Grind or pound the spices together with the cardamon seeds into a powdered spice mix.

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the sunflower oil and fry the garlic and ginger over a medium high heat until they just start to brown.  Add the ground spices and stir round for a minute or so then add the diced lamb.  Fry the lamb until just browned.

Whilst the lamb is browning roughly mash or puree the vegetables and lentils and stir in the lemon juice, chilli flakes, and salt.  When the lamb is browned stir in the mashed/pureed vegetables and the coriander or mint.  Simmer with the lid on for another 20 minutes until the meat is tender.  Stir from time to time to prevent the curry sticking on the bottom of the pan, and add a little water if it does.

The flavour of curries develop the longer they are left.  I try to make curries mid afternoon and leave them standing on the hob for an hour or so to mature.  Reheat gently, particulary if using fresh coriander.

At home we serve this with basmati rice which has been cooked with a large pinch of cumin seeds and a handful of frozen peas.

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