Crunch time

Yes it’s that glorious time of year where everything gets just a little bit crunchy. The trees are changing colours and soon we’ll be wading through pavements and fields knee deep in crisp golden leaves, clear blue skies overhead and clouds of condensing breath in the air. The seasonal produce on offer from stores, markets and farm shops reflect the colours and hues of the season: golden and purple swedes, burnt orange pumpkins, moss-like kale leaves, frosty white leeks and deep green crinkled cabbage. It’s the time of year when traditionally our thoughts turn, quite rightly, to warming soups, stews, compotes and deep rich meats and game with distinctive earthy flavours but there’s still time for something a little lighter and fresher. In this crisp and crunchy salad-come-autumnal-coleslaw you'll find a refreshing, tangy, Asian twist that is the perfect compliment to the season. 

Try adding bean sprouts, noodles or both, maybe some stir fried crispy chunks of chicken or serve this coleslaw, as is, along side some roasted pork belly with crackling. The dressing would make a perfect marinade for fish too: sticky, sweet and sour.

Winter coleslaw with Asian dressing

Serves:4

• ½ a cabbage, green or white shredded
• 3 carrots coarsely grated
• 2 apples grated
• 1 red pepper finely sliced
• 2 tbsp of crushed roasted peanuts

Dressing

·       1 clove garlic crushed

·       ½ onion finely chopped

·       1 red chilli chopped

·       1 tbsp of thai fish sauce

·       11/2 tbsp of brown sugar

·       3 tbsp of lime juice

·       a dash of sweet chilli sauce

Put all the raw vegetables chopped, sliced or grated in a large bowl. Mix all the dressing ingredients in a blender and blitz for a few seconds. Pour the dressing over the veg and toss well, serving with a sprinkle of the crushed peanuts.

Smashing pumpkins

Halloween having just passed we naturally find ourselves with a slight excess in the pumpkin department: even though the living room is abundantly decorated with triangular cut, slanty eyed faces that the kids have enthusiastically carved, glowing and glowering, on shelves, mantles and in obscure corners, the room is filled with an autumnal aura … and an acrid smell of burning vegetable flesh. Every year I try to ‘do’ something with pumpkin, I’ve experimented with pumpkin pies, pumpkin soups, roasting and mashing the golden flesh, but have come to the conclusion that none of the above really excites me that much. Pies are often glutinous and any pumpkin flavour is masked by nutmeg and cinnamon, not a bad thing as it turns out, but then I question as to why include the pumpkin in the first place. Soups are never quite ‘there’ for me: I only once had a decent soup but again the over riding flavour was celery this time, whilst warming and an attractive colour the pumpkin seemed to be lurking around rather than bursting out. Lets face facts, pumpkin isn’t the worlds most flavoursome ingredient: despite being one of the most popular crops in the United States of America where about 1.5 billion pounds are cultivated each year. It does however have quite an interesting texture if handled in the right way and this year I stumbled upon a pasta recipe that seems to finally do the pumpkin proud. The trick is to roast thick slices of pumpkin with the skin intact then, when tender and almost cooked through, scrape the flesh into a sieve or colander and let it drain and dry overnight (for at least the best part of the day). The true genius in this recipe though is the way the pumpkin flesh, now mashed coarsely, is combined with pear and parmesan cheese and a little garlic to create a tangy, sweet, textured and delicious filling for tortellini pasta. Squash and pasta are old and well acquainted partners; think of butternut and sage for instance, both as a filling and as a fantastic variation for gnocchi. This recipe for the pumpkin is similar in the fact that the dish is finished with a smoky sage and butter sauce but the texture and the fresh fruity finish are quite unique. 

Pumpkin & pear tortellini

Serves: 4

For the filling- the day before

• 1 pumpkin, about 2kg
• 100g grated fresh parmesan cheese
• 100g pear flesh, grated
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• Salt & pepper

For the pasta

• 300g tipo ‘00’ flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 tspn of turmeric

For the sauce

• 100g butter
• A handful of sage leaves
• Half a cup of vegetable stock

Cut the pumpkin into wedges, deseed and place in a roasting tin, sprinkle with salt and roast at 180degrees for about 45 minutes or until just tender. Allow to cool and then scrape the pumpkin flesh into a sieve or colander, place a plate or saucer on top and rest in a bowl to allow any excess liquid to drain from the flesh. This should be left for at least 5 hours but if the pumpkin seems very wet then leave to drain overnight. When thoroughly dry place the pumpkin flesh in a bowl and coarsely mash or place in a blender and blitz. Add the Parmesan cheese, pear, garlic and season well with salt & pepper.

There are so many pasta recipes so find one you can work with, the process and technique is pretty standard, I add the turmeric to give the pasta a deep yellow colour. Fill your rolled out pasta with the pumpkin filling, shape into tortellini and leave to air until needed. Cook in plenty of boiling salted water for about 4 mins. Melt the butter in a frying pan; add the sage leaves and fry for a minute, splash in the stock and season. When cooked toss the tortellini in the sage butter sauce and serve immediately.