Pumpkin and Tarragon Soup

Very excitingly I recently got a pressure cooker. I was lured in by the idea of making dhal from scratch in 5 minutes - maybe it is my rebellion against the slow cooker thing. Anyway this was the first thing I cooked in it, and based on this alone, I think me and my pressure cooker are going to be very happy together. And it is very shiny - I do like new toys.

The recipe came out of the book that came with the pressure cooker, which I obviously then tweaked a bit. I must say I never thought to put pumpkin and tarragon together (I usually just go for sage) but it really really works. The tarragon (which I think is my current favourite herb) just makes it all very savoury, which can be a challenge with pumpkins; I didn’t even feel the need to add any parmesan.

1 onion finely, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tbsp oil
750g pumpkin, peeled and chopped into chunks
250g potato, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp tarragon, chopped
850ml stock
Salt and pepper
3 tbsp yoghurt (or use cream and also add a squeeze of lemon)

Start by frying the onion and garlic in the oil until the onion if soft. Then add the pumpkin, potato, tarragon and 600ml stock and season. Bring to 12lb pressure, cook for 5-6 minutes and then reduce the pressure quickly. If you are making the soup in a pan cook for around 30 minutes or until the pumpkin and potato is soft

Liquidise the soup, then add the remaining stock and yoghurt and check the seasoning.

Eat in warmed bowls with lots of crusty bread.

Makes around 6 portions

Pumpkin, chickpea and spinach curry

Being a little over keen, I roasted a pumpkin the other day that was slightly under-ripe. The first half was very disappointing so I decided to spice the other half up a bit and use it as a base for a curry. Well worth trying even if your pumpkin isn’t disappointing!

If your pumpkin isn’t already roasted, I’d added it to the spices with a bit of water, cook it until it is soft and then mash it lightly.

1 tbsp oil
Pinch asafoetida
1 bay leaf
1 small onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp ginger, finely chopped
2 dried chillies, finely chopped
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
400g roasted pumpkin, mashed with a fork
1 tin chickpea, drained and rinsed well
1 tsp garam masala
1 handful spinach, roughly chopped
Squeeze of lemon juice
Salt to taste

Heat the oil and gently fry the asafoetida and bay leaf (it will smell vile at first) for about 30 seconds.

Add the onion and garlic, cook for a couple of minutes before adding the ginger, chilli, coriander, cumin and turmeric. Fry for another minute then add the pumpkin and about half a cup of water. Combine everything well and cook until the water has more or less evaporated, then taste for seasoning.

Add the chickpeas and warm through, adding a splash more water if it gets a bit dry.

Finally add the spinach and garam masala. Let the spinach wilt, check once more for seasoning and add the lemon juice before serving with chapattis.

Serves 2