Twice baked pumpkin with turkey melt

Pumpkin is a member of the squash family and there is nutritional info within my other blog post.
There doesn't seem to be many varied recipes for pumpkin other than pumpkin soup and pumpkin pie.
My recipe is a tasty different way to serve this flavoursome veg in season used now particularly for Halloween lanterns.


Prepare:


Preheat a slow cooker on high whist preparing the pumpkin.
Scrub a small pumpkin really well to remove any debris and use a sharp large knife to cut it in half. Scoop out the seeds and reserve them for roasting another day. Scoop out and discard any pulpy flesh.
Cut each quarter into 4 sections removing and discarding the hard stem.
Arrange the pumpkin firstly around the sides of the slow cooker then fill in the middle sprinkling with cayenne pepper and dot with 1tbsp milk and 1oz butter.
Cook for 2 hours until the flesh and peel is soft when prodded with a knife. Allow to cool then put in the firdge until next day for your meal.


Next day:
Per person:
Preheat the oven to 180 fan / 200C for 10 minutes.


Use half the pumpkin and separate the cooked flesh from the peel and layer the pumpkin flesh into an 8" round casserole. Use a knife to roughly chop the pumpkin and cover the bottom of the casserole pressing in with a fork. Sprinkle with salt / pepper.


Top. tail and rinse 4 green beans, cut in half and press into the pumpkin flesh.


Rinse 1 broccoli floret and thinly slice and press into the pumpkin flesh.


Drain a small can of white kidney beans and press evenly into the pumpkin flesh.


Drizzle over with some olive oil. and freshly grind some mixed red, black and white peppers over from a pepper mill.


Use one eighth portion from a red and yellow bell pepper and finely dice, sprinkle with a little oil. Put the peppers into a small casserole big enough to hold a turkey steak portion and place the steak on top of the peppers.


Top the steak with 2 tsp single cream and thinly sliced feta cheese or other cheese of your choice then freshly grind some mixed red, black and white peppers from a pepper mill.


Place both baking dishes into the hot oven and bake for 20 minutes. Serve in the first baking dish with the turkey steak as the topping drizzling the juice from the steak baking dish all over the food.


The pumpkin peel can either be an ingredient for a stir fry or baked in a hot oven for crispy pumpkin skins (recipe to follow).

Chilli beef patties with borlotti beans

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For two patties:


In a lagre bowl mix together 6oz lean beef mince, 1 grated garlic clove, 1 tsp tomato ketchup, half tsp french mustard, 1 lightly beaten egg, half a small finely chopped red onion, 1 finely chopped spring onion, one finely chopped red chilli (omit seeds if you prefer less spicy). Shape into 2 patties.


Heat 2tbsp oil over high hob heat and fry the patties for 4 minutes whilst preparing the veg.


Rinse and destem 2 tbsp fresh kale.


Peel, top and tail one small carrot and cut into matchstick sized pieces.


Rinse and remove the spine from one large savoy cabbage so there are 2 even pieces. Roll each piece into a sausage shape discarding the spine.


Drain a small can of borlotti beans in water discarding the water.


After the 4 minutes frying, lower the hob heat to medium, turn the patties over.


Add another tbsp oil around the patties then add the cabbage 'sausages' first, then the other veg evenly around the edges of the frying pan around the patties. Leave lidded for 2 minutes. Gently turn the veg over and add the drained borlotti beans evenly topping the veg and leave for a further 2 minutes. Serve with a sprinkling of grated cheese if desired.
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October recipe link:

Potato skins with harissa cannellini peppers 

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Cauliflower steak with buttery greens 

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September recipe:
Piri smoked mackerel / kale chessy bake
November recipe:
RUGBY BALL SQUASH WITH GIANT COUSCOUS STUFFING

Potato skins with harissa cannellini peppers

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Per person:


Scrub 1 large Maris Piper potato and peel the skin into long 1" strips


Cut the potato into 1" thick chips


Top, tail and peel 1 carrot and cut into 4 thick lengths


Rinse and halve 1 red and 1 green bell pepper. Remove the white insides and the seeds.
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Preheat the oven to 180 fan, 200 C. Place the chips and carrot into a roasting tin along with the bell peppers (skin side up). Brush generously with oil and sprinkle all over with salt and mixed freshly ground red, black and white pepper. Bake for 15 minutes.


Turn the bell peppers over and evenly fill the cavities with cannellini beans from a can. Top them with quarter tsp harissa paste and 2oz grated cheddar cheese.
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Add the potato skins to the baking dish skin side down, sprinkling them with salt / pepper / 1 tsp white vinegar and 2tsp olive oil. Continue baking for another 15 minutes until the skins are crisp with a soft centre.　


Serve with additional salt and white vinegar.
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October recipe link:
Cauliflower steak with buttery greens 

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Chilli beef patties with borlotti beans

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Cauliflower steak with buttery greens

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Measure out per person:
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Cut a firm cauliflower in half and slice a 1.5" round of cauliflower
6 sugarsnap peas
Strip and discard the thick stems from 2 cavolo nero and roughly tear into strips
Remove any hard stems from a handful of chopped kale
Top, tail and peel 1 carrot and use a veg peeler to cut into thin strips
Rinse and kitchen towel dry all the veg
Peel and quarter 1 large flat mushroom.
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Heat 2 tbsp oil in a deep pan over high hob heat and place the cauliflower round into the hot oil in the middle of the pan cooking it as a steak by leaving it for 2 minutes in the hot oil.
Surround the cauliflower with the sugarsnap peas and carrot and leave lidded for 1 minute. Add the remaining greens and leave another minute.
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Sprinkle everything with salt/freshly ground black pepper and chilli flakes then carefully turn the cauliflower steak over and the veg. Add a knob of butter on top of the cauliflower steak and randomly add the quartered mushroom. Leave lidded for 2 minutes.
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Meantime cube 75g of paneer cheese, measure out 2 tbsp rinsed/dried baby spinach and half a drained can of baked beans from it's tomato sauce. Reduce heat to med / high stirring these ingredients into the frying pan and leave lidded 4 minutes. Serve immediately.
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October recipe link:
Potato skins with harissa cannellini peppers 

.

Chilli beef patties with borlotti beans

.