Pumpkin, pasta & pesto

I keep thinking about bringing soup Monday to a close for the year and maybe moving to salad Monday. If you were in Wellington last Monday you will know why I didn't. We had the coldest day of winter. Temperatures didn't rise above 4 degrees! If it's cold in your town, try this delicious heartwarming pumpkin soup. Soften finely chopped onion (2), carrot, garlic (2), ginger (2 cm) in some olive oil with 1 tsp ground cumin & 1/2 tsp each cinnamon, turmeric & cayenne (maybe less cayenne if you're not a fan of spicy). Stir in a tin of tomatoes, 6 cups chicken (or vegetable) stock, 1 cup red lentils & about 800g pumpkin chopped into 2cm pieces. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat & simmer until the pumpkin is tender. Break up some of the pumpkin so that the soup is a rough lumpy texture. Season & serve with a dollop of sour cream & a pinch of cinnamon.

I have discovered a pasta recipe that I feel will become a regular at our table over summer. This week I made 2 versions - one for vegans & one for not. Both were delicious

For vegans blend a couple of handfuls of spinach leaves with a little olive oil & a handful of toasted pinenuts. You could use basil but I had lots of spinach. Genoese pesto for the non-vegan version. Put to one side.

Thinly slice lengthways one courgette per person with a vegetable peeler or mandolin & saute in olive oil. Steam a bunch of asparagus. Cook your favourite pasta according to the instructions. I used spaghetti for the vegans & egg tagliatelle for the non. Stir the sauces through the pastas, mix the courgette & asparagus and a chopped up avocado through both. Top the vegan one with breadcrumbs toasted in olive oil (often known as poor man's Parmesan) & the non version with Parmesan. Serve with a leafy green salad.

Leeks and Peas

Leeks are good just now so for Soup Monday we had this variation on leek & potato soup. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil & a knob of butter in a large saucepan & add 2 leeks, finely sliced; 500g floury (I usually use Agria) potatoes cut up small; 2 cloves garlic, crushed & some chopped thyme. Heat gently until the leeks are very soft but not browned. Patience is required. Then add 5 cups of chicken or vegetable stock and 1 cup milk. Season & bring to the boil, then simmer 30 minutes. Don't worry that it looks a bit curdly - you're going to blend the curdle out of it. Add 3 cups frozen peas & cook another 5 minutes. Blend until smooth. Drizzle with a little cream to serve. What a colour! You'll notice this makes quite a bit, so freeze the leftovers. It's always good to have soup in the freezer in the weather.

On Tuesday I had to bin the chicken I had planned & this is why you should always have pasta & pesto at the ready. Boil egg pasta ribbons according to the instructions on the packet. Gently warm a large pan & when the pasta is done use a slotted spoon or tongs to lift the pasta from it's saucepan into the clean one. Stir through a tbsp per person of creme fraiche, the same of pesto. Season and add a knob of butter. Grate over some Parmesan. Serve with a green salad that you've prepared beforehand because once you start cooking the pasta you are less than 6 minutes from the table. If you've got pasta in your cupboard you've always got a meal.

On Thursday we had pea & prawn risotto. This combination is beautiful. Just make a regular risotto base (see May 09). You could substitute fennel for the leek and use Pernod instead of wine. Remember to be patient when softening the leek. You don't want crunchy leek. When the risotto is done, stir through 1/2 cup frozen peas & 1/2 cup frozen cooked prawns with the juice of 1/2 a lemon. You could use raw prawns and just cook them through in the pan. Cook a little more until the peas & prawns are ready then season, drop in a knob of butter, cover & leave with the heat off for a few minutes to rest. Serve with Parmesan.

The next night, if you've got some left over, make risotto cakes. I recently learned a clever trick to make these. Butter some ramekins & put a circle of baking paper in the bottom. Lightly beat 2 or 3 eggs & mix with the risotto & some Parmesan. Tip the mixture into the ramekins & bake in a moderate oven about 15 minutes until the egg is set. This is much better than trying to fry them as I have done in the past. They turn out really well. You could make it in one large shallow dish & cut into wedges like a cake.