The onset of Autumn and coldness of winter has come bringing rain and misty chills to the mornings, briefly lit by bold sunshine brandishing stark shadows then followed by the softness of declining afternoon light. The clocks have yet to go back, a time which everyone hates, though this year I am welcoming the change and pace. What else can we do? We cannot change or fight it and must try to embrace it. In the morning I can see children cycling to school on bikes followed by the rushed feet of anxious parents. I smile watching the resolute determination of runners pounding pavements admist falling leaves. glancing at the changing skies. All of this makes me want to cook.
You will see an abundance of pumpkins in all shapes and sizes alongside creative shapes of inedible decorative gourds in shops and supermarkets. I have bought many to photograph marking the Autumnal season and slow decline of Wiinter. There is a suspenseful beauty and magic to this time of year and the coldness brings a hushing silence which I celebrate with slow cooking.
I have made pumpkin mash, easily roasted in the oven using different varieties of pumpkin and butternut squash adorned with garlic cloves in their skins using herbs of rosemary and sage from my garden. A generous douse of olive oil in the roasting tin with a sprinkling of freshly ground pepper and salt to finish whilst I coat all the incgredients with my hands getting all messy.
The wedges of peeled pumpkin flesh and the buttery butternut squash, skins once roasted all will mingle together in a food processor or coarsly chopped with the roasted caramlised garlic inners, all brown and stickly (papery skins set aside). It blends nicely together alongside water and olive oil to make a mash which you can put into a clean container, topped up with olive oil into the fridge for weekly kitchen raids, quick meals seeing you through these weeks. You can add double cream, marscapone or decorate with feta or cream cheeses and even smooth onto sourdough toasts for a quick snack . This bright jar of pumpkin goodness gives me the base of many meals I can create when winter is at my door. It rejuvenates a tired me at the end of the day, brightening up our evenings giving many spoonfuls of comfort.
Ingredients
1 large Pumpkin or you can use different edible pumpkin flesh
1 Medium Butternut Squash
1/2 pint of Olive Oil
1/4 pint of cold water or vegetable/chicken stock or cream fraiche to thin out
Sprigs of Rosemary and Sage
5 fat Garlic Cloves in their skins
Freshly Ground Black Pepper and Sea Salt
Peel and cut the pumpkin into the same size wedges or cubes (you can reserve the washed seeds for garnish later in other dishes should you so wish)
Cut the Butternut Squash into same sized chunks leaving the skin on
Put into a large roasting tin alongside the unpeeled garlic, herbs and seasonings
Ensure all ingredients are coated with the olive oil - preferably using your hands
Roast for 45 mins to 1 hour on Gas Mark 5 until nicely charred and soft using a fork to test
Remove the herbs and squeeze the caramalised garlic bulbs from the papery skins.
Combine the squash, pumpkin and garlic with olive oil and cold water or stock with a blender or cut coarsley depending on preference. You can combine to a puree or leave coarsely chopped or put through a sieve
Put into a sterilsed container in the fridge for meals to come which you can fold into pasta or use as a base for dishes hot or cold. Sprinkle with basil or parsley on finished dishes.
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