A vibrant salad, warming curry and rice and chocolate pie with a twist all feature in this week's selection
We’re at the height of squash and pumpkin season, but if you’re used to simply making soups with them, it’s time to branch out. There are plenty of dishes that make squashes the star, where you can get away without serving meat or fish. If you’re hosting on Hallowe’en, this could be the ideal celebratory dinner option.
There are hundreds of varieties of squash, pumpkin and gourd, but not all have a great flavour, texture and yield. Look for sunshine, butternut, kabocha or Crown Prince, to name a few. They also last for months once harvested – useful if you grow your own.
This is a colourful autumn and winter salad using both roasted and shaved squash, which brings lovely textures and flavours. I’ve used butternut here as I had one that was ripe and ready to go, but you could use any orange-fleshed squash, or a mix. You can add toasted pumpkin seeds or even chop them and add them to the dressing, if you like.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Four to six
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6. With a vegetable peeler, shave ribbons from one third of the squash and put them in a bowl of cold water. Cut the rest of the squash into wedges or rough chunks.
2. Preheat a roasting tray in the oven with a couple of tablespoons of oil. Season the squash pieces and roast them for about 30 minutes, turning halfway through and cooking until tender.
3. Meanwhile, drain the shaved squash and mix with the salad leaves. Whisk the ingredients for the dressing together and season.
4. To serve, arrange the ingredients in a large bowl or plate or individual plates, then spoon over the dressing.
Squash makes a great vegan or vegetarian curry, but you don’t need to be either to make this lovely, spicy main course. I’ve used Tromboncino for this, but use any good, fleshy ripe squash.
I have a whole range of curry spices in my larder and if, like me, you make curry regularly, you can vary the spice mix and up the chillies to suit your taste.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Four to six
1. Melt the ghee in a heavy-based pan and fry all of the dry spices for a couple of minutes on a low heat, then add the onions, garlic, ginger, chillies and fresh turmeric, if using. Cook for a few minutes with a lid on until softened.
2. Stir in the tomato purée and stock, bring to the boil, season and simmer gently for 45 minutes.
3. Take a cupful of the sauce from the pan and blend in a liquidiser until smooth, then pour it back into the sauce.
4. Add the pieces of squash and simmer for about 20 minutes or until tender, seasoning with salt and pepper if necessary.
5. Scatter over the coriander, and serve.
This is inspired by the classic Persian jewelled rice, but is less complicated in its preparation. You could add pumpkin seeds and raisins if you wish, depending on what you are serving it with.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Four to six
1. Put the rice in a bowl and cover with cold water, stirring it around a couple times with your fingers and replacing the water until it is clear.
2. Place the rice in a saucepan with the cumin and mustard seeds, cover with about three times the amount of boiling water, add the salt and bring back to the boil.
3. Simmer gently for 7-8 minutes until nearly tender, then drain quickly and return the rice to the pan, off the heat. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, cover with a lid and allow the rice to sit for 5 minutes to fluff up.
This is a take on the classic American pumpkin pie, traditionally served at Thanksgiving. With the addition of chocolate it becomes extremely attractive to kids, which is why I’m suggesting to make a larger one, as it will certainly be devoured by all.
Prep time: 30 minutes plus chilling and cooling
Cook time: 2 hours
Eight to ten
1. First make the pastry. In a food processor or large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until they are smooth and creamy. Slowly add the beaten egg, scraping the sides of the bowl every so often if you are using a mixer, until it is incorporated well, then slowly fold in the flour, mixing to a smooth dough. If the egg doesn’t seem to be combining with the butter and sugar, just add a tablespoon of flour and continue stirring until the mix is smooth, then fold in the rest of the flour.
2. Shape the dough into a flat circle, wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
3. Roll the pastry out on a floured surface to a thickness of 3-4mm. Roll the pastry around the rolling pin and use it to line a 20 x 6cm springform cake tin, pushing the pastry into the corners and cutting away the excess, overhanging pastry. This pastry is quite delicate, but is forgiving if it starts breaking on you. Just patch it up when lining the tin and mould the pastry back together with your fingers. Leave to rest for one hour in the fridge.
4. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6. Put the pieces of pumpkin or squash in a roasting tray with the mixed spice and the butter. Cover with foil and bake for about 35-45 minutes or until soft, giving it an occasional stir. Take out, drain and cool in a colander. Blend the pumpkin in a liquidiser.
5. Pour the cream into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the chocolate and sugar, stirring until dissolved then remove from the heat. Whisk in the pumpkin purée and eggs until smooth.
6. Remove the pastry from the fridge, line with greaseproof paper, and fill with baking beans. Bake blind for 12-15 minutes until the pastry is lightly golden. Leave to rest for 10 minutes or so until cool, then remove the beans and paper.
7. Turn the oven down to 160C/140C fan/gas mark 3. Pour the pumpkin mix up to the top of the tart case and bake for 45 minutes until the filling has set. Leave to cool for an hour or so before carefully turning it out.
8. Meanwhile, put the pumpkin seeds on some foil on a baking tray, dredge with icing sugar and bake for 10 minutes, giving them a stir until golden. Leave to cool then scatter them over the pie.
9. The pie is best served at room temperature but you can refrigerate it, removing it an hour or so before you want to eat. Carefully cut the pie into generous slices and serve.
Read last week’s column: Mark Hix’s classic slow-cooked osso buco recipe
We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.
We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.
Thank you for your support.
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.