Category Archives: Produce

Pumpkin and Goat’s Cheese Risotto

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Pumpkins are not just for Halloween, Thanksgiving or for taking Cinderella home from the ball.

pumpkin, food, talking about food again, food blog,recipeBoth the flesh and the seeds of the pumpkin are an excellent source of many vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants. They are also lowfat, highfibre and low in calories.

In short, they are one of the superfoods of the vegetable world.

So, when one arrived in my organic veg box nearly 2 weeks ago, I was very excited (I know, I need to get out more).

Not only was it a change from the usual root vegetables and salad leaves, I don’t normally find pumpkins in my local supermarket, unlike its relative butternut squash.

Plus, it was a lovely orange-red colour and very decorative with its sturdy appearance and little green stalk.

After 10 days as a decoration, I decided to cook it. And in one of my favourite dishes – risotto. 

Making risotto is a labour of love, one of those times when you have to make sure all the ingredients have been prepped before you start, then turn off our phone, put on some relaxing music and get ready to stir.

I find making risotto very relaxing and it never fails to amaze me how lthe little, hard grains of rice can, in such a short time, turn into a delightful creamy mass.

But, you have to stir for at least 20 minutes without interruption.

I paired my little orange pumpkin with soft goat’s cheese then added some peppery rocket for this dish.    

pumpkin, goat's cheese, cheese, risotto, food, talking about food again, food blog, rice,Pumpkin and Goat’s Cheese Risotto

  • 1 pumpkin, about 500 grams, peeled and cubed (you can also use butternut squash)
  • 1tbsp oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 300 grams Arborio rice
  • 1 litre hot vegetable stock
  • 100 grams soft goat’s cheese, cubed
  • handful of rocket, shredded
  • Small lump of butter   
  1. Heat oven to 200C, 180C fan, 400F, Gas Mark 6
  2. Place the pumpkin pieces on a baking sheet and roast for 20 mins. or until tender.
  3. Remove from the oven and put to one side.
  4. Heat the oil in a wide, shallow pan and fry the onion and garlic until soft.
  5. Meanwhile, bring the vegetable stock to boiling point and simmer over a low heat until ready to use.
  6. Add the rice to the onion and garlic and stir to mix everything together.
  7. Now, add the hot stock to the rice, a ladleful at a time, making sure the stock has been absorbed before adding the next ladleful. This should take about 20 minutes.
  8. Test the rice. It should be tender and creamy but still have some bite.
  9. Stir in the pumpkin, goat’s cheese and rocket.
  10. Add the butter, stir once or twice and serve immediately on warm plates.

I like to serve this with a simple salad of mixed leaves seasoned with sea salt and black pepper, and dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

 

Organic Veg Box on Earth Day

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As it’s Earth Day today, it seems a good opportunity to talk about my organic veg box.  Every Thursday, I put the empty one outside the front door and a few hours later I open the door and, as if by magic, it’s full of fresh veg, herbs, salad greens and half a dozen free-range eggs.

I like the freshness of the veg, the fact that they have been grown only a few miles away. I like not knowing what to expect – except for carrots, lots and lots of carrots every week all year round.  I don’t like washing the salad leaves. That’s fiddly and time-consuming and they never dry completely, and sometimes I find a live slug or two in one of the bags. I don’t want to kill them so I used to park the slug on a lettuce leaf or a piece of cabbage, place it on the windowsill in the kitchen and leave it until I could take it into the garden. Too impatient to wait, it would usually climb off the leaf and disappear and then I would never know where it was going to turn up next.  Now, if I find one, I put it on a leaf and place it on the windowsill outside and let it find its own way down to the garden. Is that cruel – we live 3 floors up?

This week’s box has a good-sized butternut squash, 2 heads of purple green spring greens, a small cauliflower, baby beetroot, the usual carrots and potatoes, curly parsley (reminds me of a 1970′s garnish or vegetable soup) and an assortment of salad leaves.  Most of the veg are filthy and need a good wash but that’s the price you pay for freshness. I don’t know how I will use them yet. Definitely not going to make vegetable soup – that’s the easy way out.