Crispy pumpkin gnocchi with a simple butter sauce . . . a very good dish for an Autumn day. Serve with a green salad.
Making gnocchi is very easy. Making beautiful gnocchi is a bit trickier; I’ve not mastered it despite numerous attempts. Fortunately even the most peculiarly-shaped gnocchi are delicious. I have learned a few things about making them, though. First of all, the less flour you use, the more tender your gnocchi will be. Resist the urge to add a lot of flour to the dough and accept that it will be a bit sticky. Second, for this recipe, it’s important to let the pumpkin purée drain for at least half an hour. The drier your purée the less sticky the dough, and the less flour you’ll need to add to make it workable. . . Finally, you can make this in stages. The shaped gnocchi can sit around for ages until you’re ready to cook them, and since you re-heat the cooked gnocchi in the butter sauce right before serving, you can also cook these in advance and leave the final toss in the butter until the last minute.
I apologise for the eclectic mix of measurements (tablespoons, cups and grams) in this recipe, and also for its length. Do try it—it’s very tasty indeed. One small Canalside pumpkin should produce exactly the right amount of purée for this recipe.
Pumpkin Gnocchi with Sage Butter
Serves 2
Ingredients
Gnocchi
2/3 cup drained pumpkin purée (see below for preparing your pumpkin puree)
1/2 cup ricotta
1¼ cups plain flour, plus more for dusting
1/3 cup parmesan cheese, finely grated, plus more to grate on the finished dish
1 egg
¼ tsp salt and pepper to taste
Sage Butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
30g butter
20-30 fresh sage leaves
Preparation
First prepare your pumpkin purée:
Preheat the oven to 180C. Wash the pumpkin to remove any residual earth, and then cut it in half from top to bottom. Turn each half on its side and slice into 1-inch hemispheres. Drizzle a little oil on a baking tray (or several baking trays if necessary) and lay the pumpkin slices on the tray. Roast for about 30 minutes, or until the pumpkin is tender. Remove from the oven. Once it’s cool enough to handle, scrape the roasted pumpkin flesh into a fine sieve, discarding (or eating . . .) the seeds and skin. Using your hands (or a stick blender), mash the pumpkin into a purée. Leave the puree to drain in the sieve for at least half an hour. You want the purée to be as dry as possible.
Make the gnocchi:
Mix all the gnocchi ingredients in a bowl to make a soft dough. Turn the dough onto a floured board and roll into a log. You might need to incorporate a bit more flour, but try not to add much. Cut the log into 6 pieces and roll each into a rope about an inch thick. Using a sharp knife cut each rope into 1 inch squares. These are your gnocchi. If you wish, use the tines of a fork to press little ridges onto each square. These are attractive and will help the butter sauce adhere. You can leave the shaped gnocchi to sit at room temperature until you’re ready to cook them. It’s best to arrange them on a piece of baking paper so they don’t stick to your worktop.
When you’re ready to cook the gnocchi, bring a large pot of water to the boil. Drop about half the gnocchi into the water, one by one, keeping the water at a boil. Give them a stir. After a minute or two they will start rising to the surface. This means those gnocchi are cooked. Fish them out with a slotted spoon and set them on a rack to drain. Cook the remaining gnocchi. If you’re not ready to eat yet, the cooked gnocchi will wait perfectly contentedly until you are.
Finish the dish:
When you’re ready to eat, melt the oil and about a tablespoon of butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the cooked gnocchi and sauté for several minutes, until the gnocchi begin to turn golden brown and crispy. Add the remaining butter. When it melts, add the sage leaves and toss about for another 2-3 minutes. The gnocchi will be golden, the sage crisp and the butter slightly browned. Grate some cheese and black pepper over the top and serve.
Crispy chickpea and carrot pancakes make a quick and tasty base for a variety of toppings. The chickpea flour creates a rich and moist interior that’s satisfying without being heavy. We ate these with spinach and avocado dressed with lemon and olive oil, and some grated goat cheese. You could also try roasted tomatoes topped with basil and a fried egg.
If you use two frying pans you can make two pancakes simultaneously, and the whole thing will take under 15 minutes.
Chickpea and Carrot Pancakes
Serves 2
Ingredients
125g chickpea flour (aka gram flour)
125g carrots, grated
175ml milk or oat milk
1 tsp roasted ground cumin, or coriander, or caraway, or fennel or mustard seed, as you prefer
Salt and pepper, to taste
1-2 tablespoons olive or rapeseed oil, for frying
Preparation
Mix the pancake ingredients aside from the oil in a blender—I used a Nutribullet—and blend until the mixture is smooth.
Heat two frying pans over medium heat and add the oil. Swirl the oil around to coat the bottom of each pan and let the oil get hot. Once it’s hot (test by adding a drop of water and seeing if it sizzles), pour half the batter into each pan and cook for 2 minutes. As it sets the colour will darken a bit and some bubbles will begin to appear on the top. Adjust the heat if you think it’s starting to get too brown on the bottom. Using a fish slice turn each pancake over and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes on the other side, until it looks firm.
Remove each pancake from the pan, and place on a plate. Top with your selected topping (see below) and enjoys.
Pancake Toppings
Spinach with avocado and goat cheese
Toss baby spinach with sliced avocado and dress with an olive oil and lemon vinaigrette (50% olive oil, 50% lemon juice, salt and pepper). Arrange some dressed spinach on each pancake, and top with grated goat or sheep cheese. Garnish with additional slices of avocado and a grind of black pepper.
Tomato, basil and egg
Drizzle cherry tomatoes with olive oil and roast in a 200C oven for 30 minutes. Toss with shredded basil and lemon zest. Arrange on pancake and top with a crispy fried egg.
Brussels sprout slaw with avocado and cheese
Trim the bottoms off several handfuls of Brussels sprouts and shred them finely. Dress with a lemon vinaigrette and toss with chopped parsley or coriander. Arrange on top of each pancake. Garnish with sliced avocado, freshly ground black pepper and lots of grated cheese.
Recipe adapted from Anna Jones, Guardian 6 Oct. 2018.
Is that head of celery from a fortnight ago still lurking in the back of your fridge? Here is what to do with it.
Creamy Celery and Fennel Soup
Serves 4
Ingredients
200g onions
200g potatoes, peeled or not, as you prefer
200g fennel
400g celery
40g butter
1 litre water or stock
150ml Greek or full-fat yoghurt, or single cream
Salt and pepper, to taste
Reserved fennel fronds, minced, for garnish
A handful of rocket, dandelion greens or watercress, finely shredded, for garnish (optional)
Preparation
Chop all the vegetables roughly. Reserve any of the soft fronds from the fennel to use as a garnish.
Over low heat, melt the butter in a pan with a lid. Once it has melted add the vegetables and turn to coat in the butter. Put the lid on the pan and leave the vegetables to sweat and soften for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the stock or water, bring slowly to a simmer, and leave to cook over low heat for another 20-30 minutes.
Liquidise the soup. Stir in the yoghurt or cream and season to taste with salt and pepper. Celery is surprisingly salty, so you may not need salt at all.
Serve garnished with the reserved fennel fronds and optional greens.
This is an approximation of a salad I’ve just eaten for lunch. (I’m currently in California, for work, since you wondered.) My salad was served with GREEN chickpeas, something I’d never encountered hitherto.
The corn in the California salad was roasted; if you are able to do this it will add depth to the flavour. See the instructions below.
The Border Grill’s Mexican Chopped Salad
Serves 4
Ingredients
Dressing Ingredients
4 tablespoons olive or rapeseed oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin (ideally, roast your cumin seeds in a dry pan and then grind them)
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped roughly, or 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Salt and pepper, to taste
Salad Ingredients
2 ears of corn (or use 1 cup frozen corn, thawed)
1 medium red onion, peeled and diced
1 large tomato, diced
1 romaine or 2 little gem lettuces, shredded
1 crisp apple, diced
½ cup cooked chickpeas or black beans
½ cup toasted pumpkin seeds
Guacamole, to serve (optional)
Tortilla or plantain chips, to serve (optional)
Preparation
Make the dressing: combine the dressing ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake vigorously. Taste and see if you’d like more lemon, etc. Adjust as necessary.
IF you are able to roast the corn, follow the instructions below. Otherwise, shuck the corn and remove the stringy silk. Cut off the kernels: hold the ear vertically on its end and use a knife to cut the kernels off each cob. (Of course, if you’re using frozen corn this is unnecessary.) Place the kernels in a medium bowl with the diced red onion and cover with the dressing. Leave for 10 minutes, or longer.
When you’re ready to serve combine the corn and onion mixture with the other ingredients, toss well and serve, garnished, if you wish, with a dollop of guacamole and tortilla or plantain chips.
To Roast the Corn: Carefully peel back the husks from the corn, and remove the corn silks, leaving the husks attached. Wrap the husks back around each ear of corn. Soak the corn in a large bowl or sink of cold water for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, pre-heat your grill to high.
Drain the corn well and place each husk-enclosed ear on the hot grill. Cook for about 12 minutes, turning frequently. Remove each cob from the grill and set aside to cool slightly. Then follow the instructions above to remove the kernels.
This is really good! The bright green spinach looks fabulous against the pale ivory sauce. The fermented tofu gives the dish an intense, creamy flavour, as well as some protein. We ate it with some Szechuan-style fried potatoes (shredded potatoes stir-fried with garlic, ginger and Szechuan pepper, and then doused with soya sauce, sesame oil and rice-wine vinegar mixed with a pinch of sugar) but it would be excellent with plain boiled rice, or accompanying a little pork chop. It’s worth the trouble of seeking out some fermented tofu, which you can buy in the Oriental Supermarket on Bath Street, Leamington.
Stir-fried spinach with chile and fermented tofu
Serves 2
Ingredients
325g spinach
2 cubes white fermented tofu
¼ teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons rapeseed, groundnut or sunflower oil
2 teaspoons finely-chopped garlic
½ fresh red chile, finely sliced
Preparation
Wash and trim the spinach, separating the leaves from the stems. Shred the leaves and chop the stems into 2-inch pieces.
Mash the tofu and sugar with some of the liquid from the tofu jar, to create a mixture with the consistency of double cream.
Bring a pan of water to the boil and add the spinach stems. Cook for 2 minutes and then add the leaves. After about 30 seconds drain and run under cold water to stop it from cooking further. Squeeze out any excess water and set aside.
Heat the oil in a wok over high heat. Add the garlic and chile and stir-fry for some seconds until the garlic is fragrant but not burnt. Add the tofu mixture and bring to a boil. Then add the spinach and stir-fry briskly.
When the sauce has been incorporated into the spinach and everything is hot, tip it onto a plate and serve.
Recipe adapted from the Financial Times Magazine, 22/23-Sept. 2018.
I made this on Monday, for a couple of colleagues who were coming round before the start of the new academic year. I thought it was pretty delicious. Serve with tomato salad and a glass of red wine. The recipe is a bit lengthy but it’s not complicated or demanding.
Paella de Cerdo con Chorizo y Espinaca [Paella with Pork, Chorizo and Spinach]
Serves 6
Ingredients
2 dried, mild chile peppers (the recipe calls for Spanish ‘ñoras’ peppers; I used Mexican ancho chiles), or an additional teaspoon of paprika
7 tablespoons olive oil
350g pork tenderloin, halved lengthwise and then sliced into 7mm slices
Salt and pepper
120g mild cooking chorizo, peeled and cut into little pieces
2 large onions (or about 8 minute Canalside onions), finely chopped
1 green pepper, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
250g paella rice
1 teaspoon sweet smoked Spanish paprika, or 2 teaspoons if you’re not using the dried chiles
900ml hot water
500g spinach, washed and chopped roughly
1 lemon, cut into wedges, to serve
Preparation
Tear the dried peppers, if you are using them, into small pieces and put them into a bowl. Cover them with boiling water and leave them to sit so that they soften up a bit while you prepare the rest of the dish.
In a 30-40cm paella pan or a large frying pan, heat the olive oil over a high heat, and then stir-fry the pork for a minute, until it is still a bit undercooked but has browned on the outside. Season with salt and pepper and remove from the pan with a slotted spoon. Set the pork aside for later.
Turn the heat to low and add the chorizo. Fry for a minute and then add the onions and peppers. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is soft and sweet. Add the garlic and cook for 10 minutes more.
Add the rice and stir well. Cook for a minute, stirring, so that the rice picks up the flavours. At this point the cooking can be paused—the remaining steps will take about 20 minutes more.
Season the pan with more salt and pepper, and add the paprika and peppers, drained of their water (if you’re using them). Toss. Pour in the hot stock. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until there is just a thin layer of liquid around the rice. Stir occasionally.
Meanwhile, cook the spinach: put it in a pan with a bit of water and cook it until it’s just wilted. Drain.
Scatter the spinach and the cooked pork over the top of the rice, and stir to mix. Cover with a lid or some foil and leave for an additional 5 minutes.
Serve garnished with lemon wedges and the tomato salad.
Recipe adapted form Sam and Sam Clark, Moro: The Cookbook (2001).
A friend gave me a very long courgette. It was about ¾ of a meter long. Actually, she gave me two. Research suggests that they are ‘Sicilian courgettes’—genuine courgettes (not hard-skinned marrows) that simply grow to extraordinary lengths. Anyway, we’ve been eating courgettes. Fortunately they are delicious, and came accompanied by several recipe suggestions. This one is for an exceptional courgette soup.
The courgettes are roasted together with onion and garlic, which gives the flavour an unexpected complexity. Peas bring additional sweetness and this is a good way to use the fresh basil we’re enjoying in the shares. As with most soups you can vary the proportions and quantities a bit to match what you have to hand. Serve with crusty bread and some grated cheese.
Roasted Courgette Soup with Peas and Basil
Serves 3
Ingredients
2 tablespoons rapeseed or olive oil
1kg courgettes (approx.)
4 garlic cloves (unpeeled)
7 tiny Canalside onions (or 2 medium onions)
Salt and pepper, to taste
200g frozen peas
20g fresh basil
750 ml stock
4 tablespoons full-fat milk
Parmesan or pecorino, to serve
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 200C. Drizzle the oil onto a large baking sheet.
Trim the ends off the courgettes and slice them into rounds about 1 cm thick. Place them on the baking sheet and scatter the unpeeled garlic cloves around them. Peel the onions, and if they are the tiny Canalside ones leave them whole and scatter them alongside the courgette and garlic. If they’re a bit larger slice them into thick slices before adding them to the baking tray.
Season with salt and pepper, toss them around a bit, and roast them for 40-45 minutes, until the vegetables are golden brown and roasted. Don’t let them char to a crisp but let them get toasted. Remove from the oven and let cool a bit.
Once the vegetables are cool enough to handle squeeze the roasted garlic flesh out of their paper skins into a pan. Add the remaining vegetables, the peas and the basil.
When you’re ready to serve, heat the stock and add it to the pan together with the milk. Blend the soup using an immersion blender and heat gently until warm. Add some additional water if you’d like the consistency to be a bit thinner. Serve with grated cheese on top.
Recipe adapted from The Veg Space, courtesy of Jean Noonan.
Grilled mackerel with cucumber-fennel relish, boiled potatoes, and, perhaps some steamed fresh spinach: between two people you can have this on the table in 25 minutes from turning on the grill. It makes a lovely Saturday night supper. Grill the fish whole for 8-12 minutes per side.
The relish or salsa has a crisp, assertive sharpness that contrasts well with the rich oiliness of the mackerel. It would be good with grilled trout, as well. The recipe makes enough for four generous servings. The key is to cut the vegetable into very small pieces; it’s this that gives its charm. ‘Dicing’ is cutting into cubes—but you can also simply chop the cucumber and fennel very fine, if producing tiny cubes seems too fiddly.
Cucumber-Fennel Relish
Ingredients
1 cucumber, cut into 3mm dice
1 small fennel bulb, cut into 3mm dice
¾ cup chopped fresh dill
zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
¾ teaspoon Demerara sugar
¾ teaspoon salt, or to taste
½ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
Preparation
Combine all the ingredients and taste for seasoning. Add more salt, pepper, sugar or vinegar/lemon juice if you wish—this should be quite sharp.
The great chef James Beard declared that in his kitchen no pepper was used until it had been roasted. I would not go quite that far, but roasting certainly transforms a pepper into something irresistibly delicious. It’s easy to do. Roasted peppers can be used in many ways—I’ll mention a few in a minute—but it’s hardly worth the effort since in my experience a dish of roasted peppers in a little olive oil and salt will be gobbled up immediately. Serve with an aperitivo or as part of your meal.
If by some miracle the peppers don’t get consumed on the spot you can arrange them on a platter with a few quartered hard-cooked eggs, black olives, and fresh basil, to make a little salad (drizzle with more olive oil before serving). Or use anchovies instead of or in addition to the eggs. You can drape them over a pizza. You can mix them with a tin of white beans, parsley, chopped tomatoes, and olive oil for a more substantial lunch. But really you’re going to eat these right away.
Roasted Peppers
Ingredients
Whole peppers of any colour or shape
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Fresh basil or parsley (optional)
Preparation
Preheat your grill. Arrange the peppers on a baking tray or oven rack and place them about 4 inches from the grill. Roast the peppers for 8-10 minutes, turning them regularly, until they are charred on all sides. The goal is for the skin to go black and flaky so that it can be removed easily.
Once each peppers is charred on all sides remove it from the oven and set it aside to cool a bit. When it’s cool enough to handle rub off the charred skin to reveal the smooth, roasted flesh underneath. Don’t run it under the tap or you’ll remove the flavour. Cut the pepper in half and remove the seeds.
Slice the halved peppers into long strips and put in a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add chopped herbs if you wish. They’re ready to serve.
When you cook beans slowly in olive oil the result is quite different from the snappy crispness produced by a quick dip in boiling water. The oil and tomatoes meld into a rich sauce that gives the dish substance and depth. Add some fresh basil and a slice of salty cheese, and enjoy for dinner with some crusty bread and a glass of red wine.
Rachel Roddy recommends you let the beans sit for a couple of hours before eating them but I think they’re pretty good straight away as well.
Braised Green Beans with Tomato and Basil
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 large or 2 small white onions, peeled and sliced thin
Salt
750g green beans or runner beans
750g ripe tomatoes, peeled if you wish, chopped coarsely
A handful of torn basil leaves
Feta, or other salty cheese, sliced, to serve (optional)
Preparation
Warm the oil in a heavy-based frying pan (with a lid) over a medium-low flame. Gently fry the onion with a pinch of salt until it is soft and translucent.
Cut or break the beans into 5cm-long pieces. Add them to the pan and stir well until each piece is glistening with oil. Continue cooking and stirring for a few minutes.
Add the tomatoes and another small pinch of salt, stir, then cover the frying pan. After a couple of minutes uncover the pan and stir – the tomatoes should be relinquishing their juices. Cover the pan and cook for another 5 minutes or so.
Once the tomatoes have given up their juice, uncover the pan and allow it to simmer, uncovered, stirring every now and then for around 40–50 minutes, or until the beans have become very tender and the tomatoes have reduced into a thick, rich sauce. During the final few minutes of cooking time, stir in the ripped basil leaves. Taste and season with more salt, if necessary.
Serve with slices of feta, if desired, or let them sit for a few hours before eating. These are very good the next day, as well.
Recipe adapted from Rachel Roddy, The Guardian, 23 May 2017.