Curry pumpkin soup with chicken skewers

Pumpkin soup:
800g butternut pumpkin, peeled & chopped
1 apple, peeled & chopped
100g shallots (or a small onion), chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 small carrot, chopped
4 tablespoons butter
1 pinch paprika
1 teaspoon curry powder (or more to taste)
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1 litre chicken broth
1 can coconut milk, or else a good few shakes of coconut milk powder
black pepper

Chicken:
2 chicken breasts
5 skewers
peanut oil
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons chilli jam or sweet chilli sauce
1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Fry shallots, garlic and carrots in butter, add pumpkin and apple together with paprika, curry, and ginger. Add chicken broth and simmer for 20 min. Add coconut milk, puree and season to taste.

Cut chicken into 1cm cubes and thread onto skewers. Fry in peanut oil, and deglaze in soy sauce. Brush over with chilli jam/sweet chilli sauce and coat with sesame seeds.

Serve soup in bowls, and place two chicken skewers over each bowl. Serve.

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What do the food critics say? Is there any more? Well, except for Lukan, but he did eat one bowl willingly. If you count "three spoonfuls of soup for one piece of cheese" as "willingly".
What does the cook say? The peeling and chopping is a bit of a pain, but it's otherwise easy and fancy looking enough to serve at a dinner party. I used a Thai marinade for the chicken though (coconut milk, ginger, garlic, chopped onion, fish sauce, fresh & ground coriander, cumin) and grilled the skewers instead of frying them. I also think less coconut milk for the soup is better - enough so you can taste it, but not so much out drowns out the more subtle ginger.

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Adapted from a recipe book at the house we stayed in on the Canary Islands.

Pumpkin chestnut soup

1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
50g ginger, grated
750g pumpkin, cut into cubes
300g cooked chestnuts
400ml coconut milk
200ml chicken stock
200ml cream
salt and pepper to taste

Cook onions and ginger in oil until onions are transparent. Add carrot, pumpkin and 200g of the chestnuts, cook briefly.

Add stock and coconut milk, cook for 20 min. Blend and season. Serve with the remaining chestnuts.

Source: the pumpkin stand in the next village

Gnocchi di Zucca

Small sugar pumpkin
2 cups flour
1 ½ cups parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/3 cup butter
½ pound mushrooms
10-15 sage leaves, chopped

Cut a small sugar pumpkin in half and bake, flesh side down, for about 30-40 minutes at 350 or until soft. Scrape out pumpkin and put in a colander to drain. When cool and drained, mash until smooth.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Meanwhile, mix together salt, nutmeg, and 1½ cups flour. Pour onto large board. Make a well in the middle of the flour and place pumpkin and Parmesan cheese in the well. Knead the flour gently into the pumpkin just until mixed. It should still be a little sticky (if too sticky, add a little more flour).

Cut the dough into six pieces. Using one piece at a time, make a “snake” from the dough, rolling it in a little flour.

Cut into ½ inch pieces and drop the pieces into the boiling water. They will fall to the bottom of the pan and then pop up to the surface. When they rise to the surface, remove them with a skimming ladle. Put in a dish and repeat until all the gnocchi are made.

Brown mushrooms and sage in butter in a large pan. Add gnocchi to pan and heat through.

Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese and serve.

Source

Squash-Apple Soup with Thai Red Curry

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small butternut pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cubed (about 4 cups)
1 apple, cored, peeled and diced
2 leeks, white part only, washed and sliced
1 small carrot, peeled and sliced
½ stalk celery, finely chopped
1 T chopped fresh basil
2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste
4 cups basic vegetable stock
2 cups water
1 T brown sugar
2 teaspoons sea salt or more to taste
thinly sliced chives
Thin strips of orange zest

In a 4-quart saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the squash, apple, leeks, carrot, celery, and basil and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are softened; do not brown.

Add the curry paste and cook, stirring constantly, for one minute.

Add the stock, water, brown sugar, and salt. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 45 minutes, or until the vegetables are very soft.

Cool for 30 minutes, then puree until absolutely smooth.

Reheat and taste for seasoning, adding salt if needed. Serve very hot, with a sprinkling of chives and orange zest, if desired.

Source

Pumpkin Enchiladas with Mole Sauce

8 tablespoons (about) olive oil
1 cups finely chopped onions
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
5 tablespoons hot Mexican-style chili powder (or a milder chili powder if you wish)
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 ounce semisweet chocolate

3-4 cups cooked pumpkin, roasted, peeled, mashed and drained in a sieve
1 ear fresh corn on the cob, kernels removed, or 1 cup frozen corn
¾ cup cooked black beans
4 T fresh corriander

16 5- to 6-inch corn tortillas
1 pound Monterey Jack cheese, coarsely grated (about 4 1/2 cups)

Heat 3 tablespoons oil in large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion, garlic, oregano, cumin and cinnamon. Cover. Cook until onion is almost tender, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Mix in chili powder and flour; stir 3 minutes.

Gradually whisk in 4 1/2 cups broth. Increase heat to medium-high. Boil until reduced to 3 cups, stirring occasionally, about 35 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk in chocolate; season with salt and pepper. Cool.

Peel and mash roasted pumpkin with a potato masher. Put in a sieve and mash some more. Let sit to drain out excess water. When drained, add corn, beans and chopped cilantro. Mix well.

Heat 3 tablespoon oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tortilla and cook until just pliable, about 20 seconds per side. Transfer to paper-towel-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas, adding oil as needed.

Spread 1/3 cup sauce in each of two 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dishes. Lay tortilla in sauce. Spoon 3 T cheese on each tortilla. Add ¼ cup of pumpkin mix and a little sauce on top. Roll up tortillas. Arrange seam side down in prepared dishes. Repeat with remaining tortillas. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover sauce and enchiladas separately; chill.)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Top enchiladas with remaining sauce, then sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Cover with foil; bake 20 minutes (30 minutes if chilled). Remove foil and bake until sauce bubbles, about 10 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes, then serve.

Source

Butternut Pumpkin Flan

1/3 cup plus ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
3 T fresh orange juice
3 cups milk (or soymilk)
4 extra-large eggs
¾ cup cooked pureed butternut squash*
1 t ground cinnamon
1 t vanilla extract
finely grated zest of 1 orange

In a small saucepan, combine 1/3 cup of the brown sugar and the orange juice, and cook over low heat until the sugar is melted and bubbles form across the surface of the syrup, about 3 minutes. Divide the syrup evenly among six 6-ounce ramekins.

In a medium saucepan, combine the milk and ¼ cup brown sugar. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, to dissolve the sugar. Set aside to cool.

In a bowl, whisk the egg . Add the pumpkin, cinnamon, and vanilla.

Stir in the cooled milk mixture. Strain the custard through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any traces of the pumpkin fibre.

Add the orange zest.

Divide the custard evenly among the ramekins, filling to within ¼ inch of the rim.

Place the ramekins in a rectangular baking pan with high sides and carefully pour 1 inch of boiling water into the pan. Cover each ramekin tightly with foil and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 30 minutes, or until the custards are no longer jiggly in the center and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven, take off the foil, and let the custards cool in the water bath. Once they are cool, remove from the pan, cover, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

To unmold, press gently around the edge of each flan to break the seal. Invert onto a dessert plate. If you prefer, the flan may be served right in the baking dish.

Top with seasonal fruit, and serve.

*Can bake by cutting the pumpkin in half and laying it cut side down on an oiled baking dish (use parchment paper if you want to have an easier clean up) and baking the squash at 350F for 30-45 minutes or until soft.

Source

Roasted Butternut Salad

Potatoes:
4 cups Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into ½ inch cubes
2 t Dijon mustard
1 T extra virgin olive oil
2 t fresh dill weed, chopped fine
½ t fresh tarragon, minced
½ t sea salt
½ t garlic, minced

Pumpkin:
4 cups butternut pumpkin, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes
½ t ground cinnamon
½ t minced fresh roseary
½ t tamari
½ t balsamic vinegar
2 t extra virgin olive oil
½ t sea salt

Dressing
½ t garlic, minced extra fine
½ cup roasted red bell pepper
¼ cup olive oil
2 ½ t Dijon mustard
3 T fresh lemon juice
2 t balsamic vinegar
1 T cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 375. Mix potato ingredients together and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Mix pumpkin ingredients together and transfer to another parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 375 F for 25 minutes or until the potatoes and squash are soft inside. Let cool and combine potatoes and squash in a bowl. Set aside.

Puree all dressing ingredients until smooth in a blender. Mix with potatoes and squash. Dice a carrot, a stick of celery and some fresh chives and combine together.

Source

One pot roast lamb

2kg (4lb 8oz) leg of lamb
6 garlic cloves, sliced
3 large sprigs rosemary
2tbsp olive oil
2 red onions, cut into thin wedges
700g (1lb 9oz) butternut squash, thickly sliced
2 x 420g cans butter beans, drained
200ml (7fl oz) hot chicken stock
150ml (5fl oz) white wine
2tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
2tbsp chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 220C/ gas 7. Pierce the lamb in several places with a knife and insert slivers of garlic and a few fresh rosemary leaves into each cavity.

(You should use a couple of cloves of garlic and half a sprig of rosemary in total.)

Heat the oil in a roasting tin and add the red onions, remaining garlic slices and rosemary sprigs. Cook for 5 minutes.

Add the squash, butterbeans, stock and wine and stir in the tomato paste.

Season well, and top with the lamb. Roast for 15 minutes.

Reduce the oven to 200C/gas 6, and cook for 20 minutes per 500g, stirring occasionally. Top with vine tomatoes for the last 30 minutes of roasting.

Allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving scattered with a handful of chopped parsley.

Source

Pumpkin and blue cheese pizza

25g (1oz) fresh yeast
½tsp sugar
250ml (9fl oz) warm water
2tsp sea salt
3tbsp olive oil
500g (1lb 2oz) strong bread flour
½ Hokkaido pumpkin
1 red onion
500g (1lb 2oz) roquefort

Crumble the yeast into a jug, add the sugar and 100ml of the water. Stir and leave for 10 minutes.

Place the flour and salt in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Stir in the yeast mixture and add more water until a dough starts to form.

Transfer to a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until elastic. Place in a bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise for 1 hour.

Deseed, peel and thinly slice the pumpkin, slice the onion and set aside. Crumble the cheese into a bowl.

Preheat the oven to 220°C/gas 7. When the dough has proven, divide into 4 pieces, roll into ovals, place on a baking sheet and leave for 20 minutes.

Divide the pumpkin slices and red onion between the pizzas. Add the crumbled cheese, drizzle with the olive oil and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.

Source

Pumpkin and sage risotto

4 small pumpkins
20g (1oz) butter
1tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
300g (10½oz) risotto rice
1 glass dry white wine
4 finely chopped sage leaves
1ltr (1¾pt) chicken stock
80g (3oz) Parmesan, grated
20g (1oz) butter
8 sage leaves to garnish

Cut lids from the pumpkins, discard the seeds and cut the flesh into cubes. Heat the butter and olive oil in a pan, add the onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes.

Add the garlic and cook until soft. Add the risotto rice and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes. Add the white wine, pumpkin and chopped sage leaves. Stir well to combine.

Gradually add 1 ladle at a time of hot chicken stock, stirring after each ladle, adding the next one only when the liquid is almost absorbed. Continue until the rice is al dente and the pumpkin is soft (about 20 minutes).

Season and stir in the Parmesan. Spoon the risotto into the pumpkin 'bowls' and garnish with sage leaves fried in butter, Parmesan shavings and a twist of black pepper.

Source