Pumpkin | Canalside Community Food - Part 2

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.

This combination of soft, roasted pumpkin, red onions, and buttery walnuts blends with the chewiness of farro or barley in this easy recipe. Farro is the Italian name for hulled wheat grains, which are toothsome and soothing. You could also use barley, which pairs beautifully with walnuts and cheese. If you want to make this a more substantial meal you can add a green salad.

Roasted Pumpkin with Walnuts and Grains

Serves 4.

1 cup = 8 fluid ounces = 250 ml (roughly)

Ingredients

2 cups farro or pearl barley, rinsed and drained
2 teaspoons fine-grain sea salt
5 cups water (or stock)
3 cups pumpkin, cut into 1/2-inch dice (no need to peel unless you hate the peel)
1 large red onion cut into 8 pieces
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 cup walnuts, deeply toasted and coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons walnut oil (or use more olive oil)
1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled

Preparation

Preheat oven to 180C.
Combine the farro or barley, salt, and water in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the grain is tender, about 40 to 60 minutes. Taste it often as it cooks. You want it al dente, not mushy. Remove from heat, drain any excess water, and set aside.

While the grain is cooking toss the pumpkin, onion, and thyme with the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a couple big pinches of salt and spread onto a large baking sheet. Try to arrange it in a single layer.

Place in the oven and roast for about 20 minutes, tossing every 7 minutes or so to get browning on all sides. Remove from the oven and let cool a bit.

In a large bowl gently toss together the everything except the goat cheese. Taste and add a bit of salt if necessary.
Arrange on a platter garnished with the goat cheese and serve.

Recipe adapted from Heidi Swanson, 101 Cookbooks.

This is a great way to use up odds and ends of fresh veg, and leftovers too. You can use more or less whatever you fancy from the list, though I do think some kind of onion is essential. As the egg is poured straight into the roasting dish full of hot veg, you don’t need to fry this frittata at all, but it helps to have a heavy ceramic or cast-iron dish, which retains the heat well. And the eggs should be at room temperature, not cold from the fridge.

Oven-roasted roots frittata

Ingredients

About 600g mixed winter veg, such as onions, carrots, squash or pumpkin, parsnip, celeriac, beetroot, jerusalem artichokes, black spanish radish, potatoes
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
3 tablespoons rapeseed or olive oil
7 large or 8 medium eggs
A handful of mixed herbs, such as curly parsley, chives and thyme, finely chopped
About 20g Parmesan, hard goat’s cheese or other well-flavoured hard cheese, grated
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas Mark 5. Meanwhile, prepare your chosen veg: peel shallots or onions and quarter or thickly slice; peel carrots and cut into 5mm slices; peel squash or pumpkin, deseed and cut into 2–3cm cubes; peel parsnip, celeriac and beetroot and cut into 1–2cm cubes; cut potatoes into 1–2cm cubes.

Put all the veg into an ovenproof dish, about 23cm square. Add the garlic, oil and plenty of salt and pepper and toss well. Roast for about 40 minutes, stirring halfway through, until the veg are all tender and starting to caramelise in places.

Beat the eggs together with the chopped herbs and some more salt and pepper. Take the dish from the oven, pour the egg evenly over the veg and scatter over the grated cheese. Return to the oven for 10–15 minutes until the egg is all set and the top is starting to colour. If your oven has a grill, you can use that to accelerate the browning of the top.

Leave to cool slightly, then slide the frittata out on to a plate or board. Serve warm or cold. Perfect lunchbox fare…

Thanks to River Cottage

Another recipe from Meera Sodha’s prize-winning Fresh India. The coconut milk gives a deep, creamy richness to the dish. This makes a good dinner with rice.

Pumpkin, Black-Eyed Bean and Coconut Curry (‘Olan’)
Serves 4

Ingredients
For the curry
1.2kg pumpkin or squash
coconut or rapeseed oil, to drizzle and fry
1 tablespoon garam masala
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 green finger chillies, slit lengthways
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 400g tin of black-eyed beans, drained, or about 2 cups of beans you’ve cooked yourself
150g fresh tomatoes, cut into wedges, or 1 400g tin of tomatoes
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 400ml tin of coconut milk
For the curry leaf tarka
10 curry leaves

Preparation
Heat the oven to 200C.

Cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out and discard the seeds, then cut it into crescents around 2cm at the widest part. Transfer to a big bowl, drizzle with oil, and sprinkle with the garam masala, 1 teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of black pepper. Toss to coat evenly, then arrange in a single layer. Roast for 30 minutes, or until soft and tender.

Meanwhile, put 2 tablespoons of oil into a large lidded frying pan over a medium heat and, when hot, add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the chillies and onion. Cook for 12 minutes, until the onion is soft and golden, then add the garlic. Cook for another couple of minutes, then add the beans and stir to mix together. Add the tomatoes. If you are using tinned tomatoes (not Meera Sodha’s recommendation but that was all I had to hand and it was still delicious)—if you’re using tinned tomatoes add about ¾ of the tin first; you might not need the entire tin. Cook for 5 minutes until soft and jammy around the edges. Add a bit more tinned tomato if you think the sauce can absorb a bit more and cook for a few more minutes.

Next, add the turmeric, ⅓ teaspoon of black pepper, ½ teaspoon of salt and the coconut milk. Tip the roasted pumpkin into the pan and stir to mix. Cover with the lid and leave to heat through for 5 minutes. Check for salt and chilli, adjusting if you wish, then transfer to a serving dish.

If you like, finish off the dish with a curry-leaf tarka: put 2 tablespoons of oil into a small frying pan over a medium to high heat. When hot, throw in the curry leaves and let them crackle and turn translucent in the oil. Pour over the pumpkin, then serve.

(Recipe adapted from Meera Sodha, Fresh India.)

Canalside pumpkin or squash is delicious in cake. The moist and tasty result is similar to banana bread, but (surprisingly…) without the banana flavour.

Brown Butter Spice Bread

130g puréed roasted pumpkin or squash (see below for instructions)
115g unsalted butter
170g wholewheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon garam masala
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
140g caster or muscovado sugar
2 large eggs
60ml milk
30g sliced almonds, lightly toasted
1.5 tablespoons sugar (for the topping)

To make puréed pumpkin or squash:
Preheat the oven to 190C. Slice the pumpkin into large wedges and remove the seeds. Place it on a baking sheet and roast until it’s cooked and tender throughout. Depending on the size of the wedges this should take between 15-30 minutes. Peel the squash and mash or purée with a hand blender until smooth. You can freeze any extra.

To make the cake:
Melt the butter in a small pot over medium heat until it’s brown and gives off a deliciously nutty aroma. This can take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes. You want the butter solids nicely toasted, but not scorched. Set aside and allow to cool but don’t let it solidify. Get on with making the rest of the cake while it’s cooling.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Butter and flour a rectangular loaf pan.

Sift the flour, baking soda, spices and sea salt into a large bowl. In a smaller bowl whisk together the squash or pumpkin, sugar, eggs and milk. Whisk in the cooled but still-melted butter. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture, and stir until just combined. Fold in most of the almonds.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and sprinkle the top with the extra 1.5 tablespoons of sugar and the remaining almonds.

Bake for about 50-60 minutes, or until the edges have browned and the centre of the cake is well set and a cake tester comes out dry. Do your best to avoid over-baking; part of the charm of this cake is its moistness.

(adapted from 101 Cookbooks.)