I have a new cook book called Vegan Recipes from Spain which I actually bought from a wonderful bookshop in Norwich called the Book Hive and not through Amazon!
I bought it because it has a lot of recipes featuring veg I grow in the garden – but surprisingly it didn’t have any pumpkin or squash recipes.
I was in search of a good recipe because some of my pumpkins are going mouldy and need using!
I cut away the affected parts – mostly around the stem – and roasted the rest in thick slices with the skin on.
I then cut them up in chunks and froze them for use in soups or stews.
But I kept some back and still needed a decent recipe for lunch today for my friend Dianne.
So I made this up.
I had a good look through the Vegan Recipes from Spain book and worked out what kind of spices I might use.
Last week I made a Spanish style lentil and squash soup with roasted garlic and sweet paprika. It was good but a little bland.
So I decided to increase the amount of spices I would use in this stew.
I used about a quarter of one of the half a dozen Hungarian Blue pumpkins I grew this summer.
I love the slightly antiseptic taste of saffron which is quintessentially Spanish.
Along with the paprika it gives the stew a great depth of flavour.
I should have used my own borlotti beans which are dried and stored every year but this was all last minute and I didn’t have time to soak them.
I had a couple of tetra packs of organic white beans in the cupboard which I ended up using instead.
The bright colours lifted our mood this grey January day.
It was all I had hoped for and more!
The rest of the pumpkin is in the freezer and will be brought out when I need to make this again – maybe with the borlottis next time round.
I will grow the Hungarian Blue variety again this season.
They are so delicious – not too sweet yet not at all bland.
They also hold their shape well.
- 750 g roasted pumpkin (skin left on)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 15 strands saffron, soaked in a little hot water
- 2 tsps sweet paprika
- 1/2 tsp sharp paprika
- 2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
- 2 cans cannellini beans or other white beans (460g drained net weight)
- 1 can chopped tomatoes (400g)
- 500 ml vegetable stock (2 tsp of bouillon powder added to hot water)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 30 or 40 whole sage leaves
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Toss in a little olive oil and roast pumpkin between 40 mins and 1 hour or until soft (but not mushy). Then cut into 1 inch cubes (2.5 cm square). Place to one side for use later on
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Fry onion & garlic in 2 tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan on medium to high heat until transparent and turning pale golden
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Add sweet and sharp paprika and stir for a minute or so
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Add tomatoes, drained cannellini beans, stock and saffron with its soaking water. Add cubed roasted pumpkin pieces and cook for 40 minutes on a low simmer or in the oven on a low heat
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Season to taste with salt
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Rub a little olive oil into sage leaves and either fry (it doesn't take long on the top of the stove) or roast in oven until crispy - about 5 to 10 minutes
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Add chopped parsley to the stew and stir in then top with sage and serve with basmati rice or couscous or cooked bulghur wheat
