by MICHELLE VOLLEMAERE
You can forget your roast potatoes as far as I am concerned, my favourite roasties are pumpkins or/and butternut.
The caramelised sweetness when they come out of the oven makes my
mouth water, and I could just eat them on their own and forget the meat part of the roast.
Roast pumpkin also makes the best soup — not bland and boring like ordinary pumpkin soup which, let’s be honest, can be like eating baby food.
I’ve got a couple of tricks to really give it a grown-up flavour.
My all-time favourite recipe for the cooler days of autumn is stuffed butternut squash, invented by British food writer Nigel Slater, which I slavishly copy because it simply cannot be
improved upon. Halved, roasted with lashings of butter then filled with a mixture of caramelised onions, root ginger, golden sultanas and warming spices, this is both heart- and tummywarming.
Pumpkins also add a golden glow to salads, fritters, scones,
cakes and desserts, like America’s iconic pumpkin pie, but I
have been told that in certain parts of the world pumpkin is not
as prized at the dinner table as it is here in New Zealand.
A long, long, very long time ago, my then-boyfriend — who
was not destined to be my now husband — told me a funny story
from his family history. Some years before his sister had
returned from her OE with a rather handsome European man
in tow. He was Swiss, I think, or Austrian . . . something with a cute accent, anyway. A family dinner was laid on to welcome him, roast lamb with all the trimmings, including great curved
wedges of roast pumpkin.
The story goes that Leopold (I think that’s what his name was) nearly didn’t survive his first meeting with his future
in-laws, because he announced that in his country pumpkins were only ever fed to the pigs. Can you imagine how that went down!?
I do remember that Boyfriend’s Mother was a mighty fine cook who had doubtless put a lot of thought into her menu plan because, did I mention that old Leo was also a chef? No pressure
there, then.
However, I am happy to report that Leopold apologised profusely for his blunder and, being the good charitable Catholic soul that she was, Boyfriend’s Mother forgave him, and they all lived
happily ever after. At least I think so. I haven’t really kept in touch.
Nigel Slater’s stuffed butternut squash
As I have already said, this recipe from Nigel Slater’s Simple Suppers simply cannot be improved upon, so don’t be tempted to tinker with the ingredients, just copy it word for word, as I have, and serve it with, as Nigel himself suggests, with sausages or chicken. I think it also makes a great meat free meal served with steamed green beans. 2 butternut squash
butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2-3 large onions, peeled and sliced
finger-length piece fresh root ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks
2-3 pinches ground cinnamon
2-3 pinches cumin seeds
a pinch or so paprika
a handful of sultanas
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
Cut the squash in half from top to bottom, spoon out the seeds and discard. Using a sharp knife, score the flesh of the squash in a criss-cross pattern, so that the heat can get to the interior.
Place the squash halves, cut sides facing upwards, into an ovenproof dish, dot with the butter and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roast in the oven for one hour.
In the meantime, make the stuffing. Heat the butter in a large shallow pan until foaming, add the onions, cover and cook gently until softened, about 15 minutes.
Add the ginger, cinnamon, cumin seeds, paprika and sultanas and continue to cook until the onions are starting to caramelise.
Place equal amounts of the stuffing mixture on top of the roasted squash, then return to the oven for 10-15 minutes to allow the juices to trickle through the squash.
Serve immediately with some of the pan juices spooned over.
Roast pumpkin soup
The treacle- roasted pumpkin adds a deep dark flavour to the finished soup. Try it with molasses if you are brave enough. An electric stick blender will make the final stage easy, but it is possible to manage it with an ordinary masher and a strong arm.
one whole buttercup pumpkin
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
2-3 Tbsp treacle or golden syrup
2 apples – gala or golden delicious are best
salt and pepper
1 or 2 pinches of cinnamon
1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
200 ml cream (optional)
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Don’t peel the pumpkin, but cut it into wedges, discarding the seeds.
Core the apples and cut in half around the middle. Don’t peel these either.
Peel the garlic and slice thinly.
Toss the pumpkin and apple in the olive oil and arrange them in a roasting dish, cut side up.
Season with salt and pepper and drizzle the treacle liberally over the pumpkin.
Scatter the sliced garlic over the top and roast for about 45 minutes or until everything is cooked through and very soft.
When it is cool enough to handle skin the pumpkin and the apple and put the flesh and any pan juices into a deep jug with 250 ml of the chicken stock.
Mash or blend until it is smooth and transfer to a saucepan.
Stir in the remaining chicken stock and cinnamon and bring gently to the boil.
Simmer for about 10 minutes, check the seasoning and add salt if needed.
Take off the heat and stir in the cream just before serving.
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