Roasted Butternut Pumpkin and Goat’s Cheese Risotto

From Pure Vegetarian, Paul Gayler, Kyle Cathie Limited, 2008.

I’ll always try a different risotto. This one turned out to be not quite what one would expect. I suppose I should have been more suspicious before I began as while the recipe was called ‘roasted butternut squash’ there was no mention anywhere in the recipe itself about roasting the pumpkin. All it said (and this was in the list of ingredients) was that the pumpkin was to be peeled and cut into large dice. Anyway, taking my cue from the title, I roasted mine.

 A stock was put on to simmer and in was placed a few sage leaves, a cinnamon stick and a bay leaf. They were taken out after a few minutes and the stock left on to simmer very gently.

In a large frying pan I sautéed a finely diced shallot in olive oil until it had softened. I then added Arborio rice and stirred it around until it was well coated with the oil, at which stage the roasted pumpkin was added. White wine went in now and it was cooked until nearly all had been absorbed. Now the stock was added a ladleful at a time until it had been taken up by the rice.

When the rice was cooked a little cream was added along with a slice of butter and some crumbled goat’s cheese. This was folded in and it was ready to serve.

A crumble was made by placing a few amaretti biscuits with a slice of unsalted butter and a little cinnamon into a blender. They were mixed until they formed into crumbly lumps. This was sprinkled over the risotto when it was served in bowls.

This was an odd risotto. The moment the cream was added it suddenly began to look like a rice pudding. And then with the sweet amaretti crumble on top and the sweet butternut pumpkin it started to taste like a rice pudding. The first few mouthfuls were confusing. What was I eating? I adjusted to it after a while but I didn’t really take to it. The author claims it is his favourite risotto recipe; I put it at the bottom of the ones I have eaten.

Taste: ✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Spelt Soup

From Pure Vegetarian, Paul Gayler, Kyle Cathie Limited, 2008.

Finding whole grain spelt was quite a problem; finding spelt flour was no problem at all, but eventually I was able to come across a store that had the spelt grain so I was able to try out this recipe.

It called for the spelt to be soaked overnight. The next day an onion and a garlic clove were fried for a few minutes in butter before 300 g of sliced Jerusalem artichokes were added with a few sage leaves and a pinch of saffron. Vegetable stock was added and brought to the boil. At this stage in went the soaked spelt and it was cooked for about 20 minutes until the vegetables had become tender. The stick blender was then used to make it smooth. Some cream was added with salt and pepper to taste.

When it was served some reserved spelt was added together with grated pecorino cheese. A little extra virgin oil was drizzled over.

This was a thick creamy soup, very tasty. The Jerusalem artichokes have a distinctive pleasing flavour but, I guess, I’ll be using them with extreme care in future: they do cause digestive problems with some users and, apparently, I am one of those because severe stomach pains resulted after partaking of the soup.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Cheesy Fritters

Cajun Mozzarella and Ricotta Fritters

from Pure Vegetarian, Paul Gayler, Kyle Cathie Limited, 2008.

When I read that this book had won a Gourmand World Cookbook Award I knew I had to give it a go. So far it has proved worth the money I spent on it. The recipes are not too difficult and there is sufficient variety to satisfy anyone be they vegetarian or carnivore.

The fritters sounded intriguing: fritters that were cajun flavoured and filled with cheese. They proved to be little taste treats.

Ricotta was flavoured with the spices and herbs and then had breadcrumbs added. This made a firm doughy mixture and I found that I had to add a slight amount of water to make it more malleable. The chopped up mozzarella was then added and the mixture rolled into ball shapes. I flattened them a little as I wanted to shallow fry them rather than deep-fry.

A dipping sauce was made (the Virgin Mary dip) from tomato sauce, Tabasco and creamed horseradish. The recipe called for Worcestershire sauce which I would not use because it generally contains anchovies as an ingredient. I used some soya sauce instead. The sauce was heavenly.

Before frying the fritters they had to be rolled in flour, then beaten egg and finally a mixture of breadcrumbs and semolina.

A great success. Crisp on the outside and cheesy chewy on the inside and highlighted with that savoury hot sauce.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔