That is just what Nigel Slater says in his book TENDER, a cook and his vegetable patch. Truthfully, I have not had much experience with cooking pumpkins but this year things were about to change after a dear friend gave me several small pumpkins. They were all so bright and shiny and I thought just the right size for baking.......not carving:-). In the past, I would just hollow out the interior with my hands and maybe carve out some eyes, and cut jagged teeth into its skin, and throw the flesh away. I was just a young kid than and probably didn't even know the flesh was edible. I only remember my mom making pie with pumpkin that came in a can. A good pie I might add so why go to all the trouble of splitting open a pumpkin, removing the flesh for cooking, sorting out the seeds to wash, dry and roast. Well after reading Nigel Slater's chapter on pumpkins, I just couldn't resist trying some of the yummy recipes.
So lets get started.......
The first recipe I tried was Roasted Pumpkin with Caramelized Sausages. What's not to like all ready? I baked the pumpkin halves for over an hour with just a bit of olive oil drizzled over. After removing the halves from the oven, I carefully scooped out the flesh, placed the cooked pumpkin in a small glass baking dish with a bit more olive oil, salt and pepper and back in the oven to caramelize. I than mashed this with a bit more butter and tried to get it as smooth as possible. You can might even chose to use a food processor especially if you have kids....or a picky husband. Either or........they probably really dislike lumps.
Moving on to the Sausages, my husband's mouth watering all ready as he peaked into the oven to see those babes getting darker and richer by the minute. Here is my version of Nigel Slater's Sausage and Pumpkin Mash
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the Sausages in a baking pan large enough to take them in a single layer. If they overlap, they won't cook properly. I n a bowl mix the mustard's, honey, and lemon juice and stir well. Pour them over the sausages and toss gently. Bake for twenty-five to thirty minutes, rolling the sausages over in the honey and mustard mixture once or twice, so that they eventually take on a sticky, glossy coat.
Divide the mash among four plates and pop the sausages on top. YUM
I also made use of the seeds by soaking them overnight in sea salt water, drained them and dry roasted them on parchment in a 150 oven for 24 hours. My husband loved them..........they didn't last too long!
The next day I decided to use the second pumpkin I cooked in more of a THAI dish. I used Chickpeas, Lemongrass, and Cilantro. Sweet Squashes marry well with the earthy flavor of beans and lentils. Since both my husband and I love Chickpeas I knew this was going to be a winner. Besides, Chickpeas are chewy and hold up well in dishes that are slow-cooked.
Nigel paired Lemongrass with the Chickpeas not only to lift their spirits but also to return some of the lemony freshness to them. My husband teases me about lemons constantly because I am always buying them. He thinks I should start buying them by the case. I just keep reminding him how good they are for you because of their cleansing properties and are smoothies taste so much better with added lemon. I add an entire lemon to our smoothie every morning. So that makes 7 lemons a week or 28 lemons a month:-) Now that is a lemon lover!
The next recipe is suitable for vegans too and even though neither myself, and definitely not my husband are vegan, we loved this! And just as Nigel said, bean dishes often taste better the next day when all the ingredients have had a chance to get acquainted.
This serves 4 to 6
Dried Chickpeas - 1 cup soaked in water for several hours (overnight is easiest)
onions - 2 medium
peanut oil - 2 tablespoons (plus a little more later)
garlic - 4 cloves
ginger - a thumb size piece
ground coriander - 2 teaspoons
ground tumeric - 2 teaspoons
green cardamon pods - 6
hot red chiles - 2
pumpkin - 1 pound peeled and seeded (more seeds for my honey)
vegetable stock 1 cup
coconut milk - 13/4 cups
yellow mustard seeds a tablespoon
cilantro leaves - a handful
to serve
cooked basmati rice for 4 to 6
limes - 2 halved
Drain the chickpeas and bring them to a boil in deep, unsalted water. Let them simmer for 45 minutes until tender. Drain
Peel the onions and chop them quite finely. Pour the oil into a deep, heavy pot and add the onions, letting them cook over medium heat until soft and translucent.
Meanwhile peel the ginger, garlic and if you can find lemon grass, remove the tough leaves. However, since neither grocery in my home town happen to have fresh lemon grass, I settled for this convenient tube of organic lemon grass. Superb! Make the above into a rough paste. Stir into the softened onions and continue to cook. Add the ground coriander and turmeric, than lightly cruse the seeds of the green cardamoms and seed and finely chop the fresh Chile's before stirring the in. Keep the heat fairly low and on no account allow the ingredients to brown.
Stir in the coconut milk and continue to simmer.
Put a splash of oil into a not stick pan and tip in the yellow mustard seeds. As soon as they start to pop, add them to the pumpkin together with the cilantro leaves. Serve with rice and the lime halves, ready to squeeze at the last minute.
So lets get started.......
The first recipe I tried was Roasted Pumpkin with Caramelized Sausages. What's not to like all ready? I baked the pumpkin halves for over an hour with just a bit of olive oil drizzled over. After removing the halves from the oven, I carefully scooped out the flesh, placed the cooked pumpkin in a small glass baking dish with a bit more olive oil, salt and pepper and back in the oven to caramelize. I than mashed this with a bit more butter and tried to get it as smooth as possible. You can might even chose to use a food processor especially if you have kids....or a picky husband. Either or........they probably really dislike lumps.
Moving on to the Sausages, my husband's mouth watering all ready as he peaked into the oven to see those babes getting darker and richer by the minute. Here is my version of Nigel Slater's Sausage and Pumpkin Mash
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the Sausages in a baking pan large enough to take them in a single layer. If they overlap, they won't cook properly. I n a bowl mix the mustard's, honey, and lemon juice and stir well. Pour them over the sausages and toss gently. Bake for twenty-five to thirty minutes, rolling the sausages over in the honey and mustard mixture once or twice, so that they eventually take on a sticky, glossy coat.
Divide the mash among four plates and pop the sausages on top. YUM
I also made use of the seeds by soaking them overnight in sea salt water, drained them and dry roasted them on parchment in a 150 oven for 24 hours. My husband loved them..........they didn't last too long!
Nigel paired Lemongrass with the Chickpeas not only to lift their spirits but also to return some of the lemony freshness to them. My husband teases me about lemons constantly because I am always buying them. He thinks I should start buying them by the case. I just keep reminding him how good they are for you because of their cleansing properties and are smoothies taste so much better with added lemon. I add an entire lemon to our smoothie every morning. So that makes 7 lemons a week or 28 lemons a month:-) Now that is a lemon lover!
The next recipe is suitable for vegans too and even though neither myself, and definitely not my husband are vegan, we loved this! And just as Nigel said, bean dishes often taste better the next day when all the ingredients have had a chance to get acquainted.
This serves 4 to 6
Dried Chickpeas - 1 cup soaked in water for several hours (overnight is easiest)
onions - 2 medium
peanut oil - 2 tablespoons (plus a little more later)
garlic - 4 cloves
ginger - a thumb size piece
ground coriander - 2 teaspoons
ground tumeric - 2 teaspoons
green cardamon pods - 6
hot red chiles - 2
pumpkin - 1 pound peeled and seeded (more seeds for my honey)
vegetable stock 1 cup
coconut milk - 13/4 cups
yellow mustard seeds a tablespoon
cilantro leaves - a handful
to serve
cooked basmati rice for 4 to 6
limes - 2 halved
Drain the chickpeas and bring them to a boil in deep, unsalted water. Let them simmer for 45 minutes until tender. Drain
Peel the onions and chop them quite finely. Pour the oil into a deep, heavy pot and add the onions, letting them cook over medium heat until soft and translucent.
Meanwhile peel the ginger, garlic and if you can find lemon grass, remove the tough leaves. However, since neither grocery in my home town happen to have fresh lemon grass, I settled for this convenient tube of organic lemon grass. Superb! Make the above into a rough paste. Stir into the softened onions and continue to cook. Add the ground coriander and turmeric, than lightly cruse the seeds of the green cardamoms and seed and finely chop the fresh Chile's before stirring the in. Keep the heat fairly low and on no account allow the ingredients to brown.
Stir in the coconut milk and continue to simmer.
Put a splash of oil into a not stick pan and tip in the yellow mustard seeds. As soon as they start to pop, add them to the pumpkin together with the cilantro leaves. Serve with rice and the lime halves, ready to squeeze at the last minute.
As you can see, I made use of those delicious, crunchy, and slightly salted, pumpkin seeds for a garnish..
Tune in for more pumpkin recipes soon.............I have more pumpkin to use thanks to my lovely friend Lisa.
