fenchurch: (Alton Brown)
Fenchurch ([personal profile] fenchurch) wrote2007-11-14 08:41 pm
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Recipe time!!!

About a week ago, I got a yen for pumpkin risotto. Not that I'd ever had any before... it's just that the idea of pumpkin risotto sort of crept into my brain and suddenly became irresistible (I blame all the pumpkins hanging around after Halloween). So, I did a quick search and found this recipe on Recipezaar. It was, as I'd been hoping, from someone in Australia... meaning the pumpkin was very likely butternut squash. However, I had no clue whether the cups and tablespoon mentioned in the recipe were in American measurements or Australian (I suspected the latter). I didn't want to go through the bother of doing the conversions, so I figured the ratios would remain the same, even if the amounts weren't quite right (and for those Americans on my flist without a kitchen scale, 15g of butter is about 2 Tablespoons. It turned out really well and was exactly what I was looking for... but it left us with quite a bit of leftover butternut pumpkin squash.

Last night, I decided to do something with it and dug out the cookbook [livejournal.com profile] babyotto got for me from her daughter's kindergarten a few years ago. For some reason, American chefs seem absolutely convinced that pumpkin and squash HAVE to be cooked sweet (even moderately savory dishes will throw in a dash of nutmeg or clove or even cinnamon), but Australians really seem to know what they're doing. So, here it is, from Brunswick Kindergarten Family Favourites:

Lentil and Pumpkin Soup

A few notes first: As I mentioned above, the pumpkin used here is what Americans call butternut squash. Also, the original obviously used Australian cups and spoons, so I've converted the measurements to metric, since that ended up being the simplest way to handle things (although I do own a set of Australian measuring spoons). I figure most people should have some sort of measuring device in the kitchen that lists mililitres.

375 mL red lentils, washed (1.5 AU Cups)
20 mL oil (1 AU Tbsp) -- I used olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves crushed garlic
3 tsp ground cumin (let the teaspoonful round up a bit -- the difference here is .21 mL, so I'm not bothering with the conversion)
2 tsp chilli powder (see above, only with a difference of .14 mL)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1.5 kg butternut squash, peeled and chopped into fairly small pieces
1625 mL vegetable stock (6.5 AU Cups)


Sweat the onion and garlic in oil. Once the onions are becoming translucent, add the spices and cook for a few more minutes. Add the lentils, pumpkin/squash and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 15 minutes, until the pumpkin/squash and lentils are cooked. Mash or blend with a stick blender. Add pepper to taste. The soup will be nice and thick, but shouldn't be lumpy. Serve immediately. VERY yummy!

YOM.

[identity profile] tomte.livejournal.com 2007-11-15 07:13 am (UTC)(link)
That sounds delicious. And you know I'm not a big fan of lentils.

[identity profile] emmaco.livejournal.com 2007-11-15 07:59 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks for yummy looking recipe, it's definitely soup weather!

I made pumpkin risotto one time when I had too much pumpkin but it wasn't (what I think is) butternut squash, it was some really hard skinned one someone had given us. Turned out yummy though, even if it was a very orange meal!
ext_11988: made by lmbossy (Default)

[identity profile] kazzy-cee.livejournal.com 2007-11-15 09:04 am (UTC)(link)
Sounds delicious. I don't think I've ever had pumpkin as a sweet dish - it's usually a soups, casseroles or a particular favourite at the moment is pumpkin in a vegetable lasagne. Yummmm

[identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com 2007-11-15 12:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Pumpkin pie is really rather good - I get this feeling that it was probably invented by some early British settler to the US trying to use up this strange new vegetable and deciding to use it to pad out custard tart - imagine custard tart made with part cream part pumpkin puree and that's a pumpkin pie!

[identity profile] fenchurche.livejournal.com 2007-11-15 04:39 pm (UTC)(link)
I think I need to look at reposting some of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes again, before next week. I've got a really good pumpkin pie recipe that I once shared with [livejournal.com profile] babyotto when she was looking for some good Thanksgiving dishes to take to an American friend's house for dinner... and she was really surprised to find out that pumpkin pie was a dessert!

[identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com 2007-11-15 12:35 pm (UTC)(link)
I like pumpkin or squash in soup - I use a similar recipe but without the lentils - I must try this variant sometime.