Wednesday 4 November 2009

(Almost) full moon and a pumpkin

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First thing this morning, as the rain clouds cleared away (for a while), the moon was still shining.

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A friend and garden neighbour gave us this pumpkin a few days ago.  We’ve cooked it in different ways as part of several meals.  The easiest, and a very tasty way, is to cut it into chunks and roast it in olive oil with garlic, rosemary and thyme in a hot oven until the chunks are browned on the edges.  We ate it like this with the pot roasted guinea fowl I made the other day – recipe here.  Another way – Lo Jardinièr made this, is to parboil the chunks and then sauté them in olive oil in a cast iron pan over a high heat and then add ground cumin seeds at the last moment.

Other ways with pumpkin …

Pumpkin gratin, the recipe for which I put on the Mediterranean cuisine blog last year, is delicious too.  Or you can purée the pumpkin, put pieces of blue cheese on top and brown it under the grill.  I use Bleu d’Auvergne or Bleu des Causses for this, but Stilton would work just as well.  This makes a light meal or a first course with some crusty bread.

Pumpkin soup would make a good warming autumn dish too.  Maybe I’ll make it with the piece we’ve got left.

4 comments:

ilex said...

Pumpkin is amazing; so versatile. Sadly, Americans don't usually eat it unless it comes from a can-- and shortly thereafter in the form of a pie (which is delicious, none the less). But more savory approaches with pumpkin are divine.

Stefaneener said...

Roasted is my favorite way to eat it. So delicious, and the sweet/salt combination really sings.

Michelle said...

It all sounds so good! I wish the squash in my garden would hurry up and be ready to harvest, they're late this year. Or, rather, I planted them late this year. One of my favorite recipes is for a galette filled with squash puree, roasted garlic, cheese, and flavored with sage.

impoftheyard said...

The roast pumpkin sounds delicious. Some lovely shots here. too.