Pumpkin Risotto

Last week we had one of the worst meals that we have ever cooked.  Pumpkin risotto is one of our favourites so when we had a really disappointing one that came in a package, celebrating national vegetarian week, I knew I would have to set things right by making one from scratch.  That is exactly what I did today.  I wouldn't normally go into as much detail as I am going to but the simplicity of a good risotto needs explaining.

I started by roasting half a butternut squash with a little olive oil, marjoram, salt and pepper for around forty minutes.  I also put some peeled garlic cloves in a puddle of olive oil in the squash's seed cavity.  Once cooked, the flesh was scooped out of the skin and roughly chopped.  The garlic infused olive oil was poured into my favourite risotto pan* and a finely chopped onion was added to soften.

After a couple of minutes of gently frying the onion I added some arborio rice and cooked that until all of the grains had been coated in the olive oil and had started to become translucent around the edges.  Next I added a glass of white wine and let that boil until it had reduced by half, before adding the first ladle of stock.  I happened to have some chicken stock in the freezer but you can use whatever stock you have to hand, for this risotto I'd go with either chicken or vegetable. 

Once the first ladle of stock had been absorbed by the rice I added the cooked flesh from the butternut squash and more stock.  I then kept adding the stock, one ladle at a time, stirring all the time and waiting until the last lot of liquid had been absorbed by the rice before adding the next ladle full.  Whilst cooking the risotto, the squash broke down so that the flavour was through the entire dish.  During the cooking process I also added lemon thyme, the garlic that had been roasted with the squash and salt and pepper.

Once all of the stock had been added and the rice was cooked, I added a couple of knobs of butter and a handful of parmesan cheese, turned off the heat, put the lid on the pan and left it alone for five minutes.  This last step has turned into a ritual.  After standing at the hob stirring constantly for twenty minutes or so it can feel like your arm is going to fall off.  The rest is really for the butter and cheese to mingle with the rest of the risotto but it's also a good chance for a welcome glass of wine and a brief sit down.  That five minutes was the same amount of time that it took to cook the packet risotto that left me feeling so cheated.  I took the opportunity to toast some pumpkin seeds and lay the table before serving.

This was as far from the last risotto as it could have been.  The rice, while cooked through, still had bite.  The sauce was creamy and oozing.  The seasoning was perfect and the individual flavours of the butternut squash, lemon thyme and garlic all shone.  The addition of pumpkin oil gave an additional background nuttiness, while toasted pumpkin seeds gave an extra texture.

I had already boycotted restaurant risottos after too many disappointing offerings.  I'll now be extending that boycott to include shop bought risottos too.  Especially when, with not much effort, meals as fantastic as tonight's pumpkin risotto can be made.

*we all have a favourite risotto pan right?

Lamb Chops with Sautéed Potatoes

Tonight I'm home alone, well not actually alone as R is asleep upstairs.  Z, on the other hand, has gone to an engagement party in Leeds.  This has given me a fantastic and rare opportunity to cook and eat lamb.

When we first met, Z was vegetarian and I could just about make a cup-a-soup.   To say that things have changed is an understatement.  There has been an awful lot of water under many bridges in the last seventeen years, but one thing that hasn't changed is Z's dislike of lamb.  It is the only meat* that Z doesn't like.  The flavour and texture combine to put her off.  This is why, after over 200 posts, there has only been one other mention of lamb.

As I don't get to eat lamb that often I decided to keep it simple.  I fried the chops on both sides before letting them rest in the oven.  While they were resting, I sautéed some parboiled Anya potatoes in the pan that I had fried the lamb in, making sure that I lost none of the lamb's flavour.  I could eat this a couple of times a month and not get bored of it, so as a once in a blue moon treat, it was fantastic.

*apart from most offal items

Onion, Cheese and Chard Tart

I'm sure that I'm not the first person to point this out, but the onion really is underrated.  Nearly every dish we cook, curries, pasta sauces, stews, you name it, the onion has a starring role but it never gets any of the credit.  Tonight Z has settled the score with an onion, cheese and chard tart.  The reason Z is cooking an onion tart is a surfeit of onions. 

At fifty pence for a couple of pounds of them I was hardly going to say no.  The chard was the last of our crop from the front garden.  We have grown nowhere near enough chard this year but as the old saying goes, your garden is never as good as it will be next year.

To make the filling for the tart, Z slowly sweated three onions in olive oil and butter until they were soft before adding the chopped chard stems.  These take a little longer to cook than the leaves which cook in next to no time so they were just stirred through the onion and stalk mixture as it cooled.  Other than salt and pepper the only addition to the naturally sweet mixture was lemon thyme.

Once cool, the onions and chard were spread over a sheet of rolled out puff pastry* and then covered with cheese.  We happened to have in a few ends of cheeses so four different types were used on our tart, but as long as you have a decent melting cheese any will do.  By the time the tart had baked and the sides had risen, a miracle had occurred, the sky had cleared and the sun was out. A perfect summer's evening for a perfect summer meal.

*shop bought. I know that this will outrage some people but there are some things that are worthy of shortcuts and puff pastry is one of them

Leek and Ricotta Cannelloni

This is my final week* of working the late shift at work.  The working pattern hasn't actually been too bad but getting home late, eating and then trying to find a bit of time to unwind before going to bed has proven to be difficult.  My nights have been getting later and R has still been getting up at 6am, so I'm lacking a fair amount of beauty sleep.  I have been spending my mornings catching up on housework, that would normally be done in the evenings, and trying to sort out the finances for Beeston Festival.  Today however, I found myself with some spare time.

Along with not getting to spending much quality time with R, the other thing I have really missed while working late, is cooking.  Not only do I love cooking for people, I also find the process to be really relaxing and the perfect way to wind down, so with some time on my hands I rolled up my sleeves and used as many pans and utensils as was possible.

Making cannelloni is a time consuming yet rewarding exercise.  I am sure that there are short cuts but
I didn't take any today.  I started by making the filling and the tomato sauce.  The tomato sauce is not much more than a seasoned tin of tomatoes with softened onions, garlic and dried basil.  After simmering for five to ten minutes I took a hand blender to the sauce and removed the lumps.

The filling was equally simple.  I softened a shredded leek in olive oil with garlic and a couple of teaspoons of lemon thyme.  Once this was cooked I let it go completely cold before stirring through a tub of riccotta.  I then spooned the mixture into eight cannelloni tubes covered them in the tomato sauce, some mozzarella and parmeasan.  At that stage I stopped and went to work with the dish ready for Z to put in the oven when she got in from work.

When it finally came out of the oven it looked a treat.  I'm glad to say that it tasted as good as it looked.  The only thing I would change next time was adding a bit more salt in the filling, as when cooked the ricotta masked the other flavours.  I had also considered adding pine nuts to the filling mixture, this would have turned tonight's meal from a really good meal into a great one.

*for now.

Aloo Gobi

We have returned to the freezer for tonight's meal.  Z has been fantastic over the last couple of months while I have been working late, but there are some days when you're just not in the mood to cook.  Plus life doesn't stand still and there are other, more important, things that still need doing*.

On the freezer blackboard on the kitchen door** Z found leftover aloo gobi from last month and a portion of tomato bhajis.  The defrosted curry reheated a treat, as did the bhajis.  Z cooked some basmati rice and warmed up a naan to have on the side.  Tomorrow I'm going to roll up my sleeves and get the meal prepared before leaving for work but more on that later.

*Booking a holiday is very high on that list!
**I have no idea how we would keep on top of the leftovers if it wasn't for the freezer blackboard.

Spaghetti al Funghi

When planning our meals for the week we tend to start with whatever is still lurking from the previous week's shopping.  The stand out item this week, not having many leftovers at all, was a full, unopened, tub of double cream.  Now I don't have a sweet tooth at all and Z would never indulge herself to the extent of using an entire tub of cream so it was destined for a savoury dish.

The cream was added to fried onions, mushrooms and bacon and allowed to come to the boil before a large handful of parsley and plenty of black pepper were stirred through the sauce.  Cooked spaghetti was then mixed through the cream so that every strand was coated.  This could so easily have been a vegetarian meal, just leave out the bacon and adjust the seasoning as cream does need quite a lot of salt to pull savoury flavours through.  I know this is an autumnal dish but it was so comforting that I'd happily eat it no mater what the time of year.

Italian Pork Chops with Gnocchi and Broccoli

Well the Mother-in-law has gone and we have the house back to ourselves, just the three of us.  We escorted her off the premises and took her to the train station so that she could say a teary goodbye to Z and R.  Having visitors is very much like going on holiday, the usual routines are knocked out and by the time you get home there is nothing to eat.  All that we had in the house was a head of broccoli so I was dispatched to the shops to stock up.

All weekend I had been hankering for a lump of pork, simply seasoned and grilled, so when I found pork loin steaks on offer at the supermarket I knew what we were having for tea.  Back home I rubbed the pork in garlic, oregano, salt, pepper and olive oil and put them into the fridge to marinate.  There was one further consideration for the evening meal, the 2012 Euro final between Spain and Italy.  Kick off was at 7:45pm, R has his bath at 7pm.  It would be touch and go if we could get the meal out in time for the start of the match.

I put the grill on as the bath was running, filled a pan with water and chopped the broccoli so that everything would be ready to cook the second R was in bed.  By the time the chops had been turned once under the grill the water for the gnocchi and broccoli had come up to the boil.  I was originally going to fry the gnocchi and steam the broccoli, but this would have been more time consuming and would have made more washing up so they both ended up in the same pan.  Once cooked I drained the gnocchi and broccoli and tossed the two in warm olive oil seasoned with anchovies and dried chilli flakes.

By the time I had served the meal the match was two minutes old.  I'd missed the anthems and the kick-off, but I managed to watch the rest of the match uninterrupted with one of the tastiest and quickest meals I have cooked in a long time.  Spain may have won the European Championship but Italy won meal of the weekend!