Pecorino and Pumpkin Pie

I bought a pumpkin and was browsing recipes and found an interesting one for a savoury pie thing. I modified it quite a bit as the original recipe looked fairly bland.

Prepare dough:
-Sift together 3 cups of flour with 1 tsp sea salt and 1 tsp rosemary
-Mix together 1/2 cup of extra-virgin olive oil, 1/3 ml of cold water and 1 egg
-Make a volcano out of the flour and add the liquid in the middle. Beat with a fork to form a dough, switching to hands once it gets too tough

-Knead for a couple minutes (add a bit of water at a time if it gets too grainy) until smooth
-Put in a plastic bag and place in the fridge for a couple hours

-Roll the dough to about 2mm thickness (pretty thin)
-Cut 2/3rds of it and mold it to fit a greased 6 1/4in x 10 1/2in baking sheet-The other 1/3rd of the dough should be cut into strips
-Place in the fridge for half an hour

Prepare filling:
-Preheat oven to 200C/400F
-Dice pumpkin, about 2 or 3 cups worth
-Coat in oil and a bit of salt and put in a roasting pan and into the oven
-About 20 minutes afterward, mix up the pumpkin and place 4 cloves unpeeled garlic in the pan
-Beat 3 eggs in a large bowl
-Grate about 2/3 cup of pecorino cheese into the egg-Once pumpkin is soft, remove from oven
-In the bowl, mash pumpkin and garlic (removed from skin)-Add a tsp each of sea salt, crushed black pepper, nutmeg, and basil

Cook:
-Place the filling into to the dough, smoothing out
-Place the strips diagonally across the pie-Bake for an hour or a bit more until the pastry is crisp and goldenTips:
-This made more than I wanted, so I assembled a whole small pie and put it in the freezer and baked it a week later, happily
-It was tasty but seemed to lack something that I couldn't put my finger on. Everyone else thought it was really tasty. I found the whatever-lacking was fixed by eating the pie with either a fresh, watery vegetable such as radish or cucumber or by spreading fresh pesto or schug on top.

Spicy Garlicky Pumpkin Seeds

I found this little recipe from a spicy-foods cookbook called Red Hot. I had huge hopes for it when I saw the ingredients... it came out fine, but not as special as I'd hoped
Prepare:
-1 cup pumpkin seeds
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1 tsp dried chili flakes
-1 tsp salt
-1 tsp caster/icing sugar
Cook:
-In a fry pan on medium heat, cook the pumpkin seeds for a couple minutes till they swell and brown a little bit-Add garlic and cook for a couple minutes more-Add red pepper flakes and salt and cook for 1 or 2 more minutes
-Turn off heat, sprinkle with sugar
Tips:
-The book also states that you can sprinkle lime juice on it and eat right away; otherwise, store in an airtight jar

Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Noodles, Corn and Brussel Sprouts

I know I've posted a pumpkin soup recipe before but I wanted to post anew since this one is a bit different. That and a friend told me that this was "fanfuckingtastic" (thanks Claire).

Prepare:
-Chop up and peel half a large pumpkin
-Lightly coat with olive oil and place in a roasting tray
-Thinly slice 1 large yellow onion
-~5 dried dates
-Dekernel one corn
-Halve about 7 or 8 brussel sprouts
-Get about 1 cup of cooked chick peas
-Dice 1-3 hot chili peppers
-1 cup dried pasta (I used wholemeal spirals)
-Spices and seasonings... bay leaf, salt, pepper, honey, cinnamon, cloves...

Cook:
-Roast at ~ 400F/200C for about an hour, putting about half a head of garlic still in the peel in the tray after 30 min-Once the pumpkin is ready, lightly sautée onion for about 5 minutes -When onion is translucent, add pumpkin and roasted garlic (remove the peel!) to the pot, cover with water and stock powder or stock
-Bring to a boil, add bay leaves and chili
-Turn heat to a simmer, cover and leave alone for about 15 min
-Once pumpkin starts falling apart, add the chickpeas and dates, mix through and then puree using hand-blender and attain even mixture
-Keep heat at a simmer
-Add pasta and brussel sprouts
-Add 1-2 tbsp honey
-About 5 minutes later, add the corn kernels
-Mix 1 tsp of cinnamon and cloves each through
-Once pasta is done, take off heat. Serve immediately with toasted breadTips:
-I added the chickpeas mainly to give a bit of protein and thicken it up without using cream or anything - I couldn't really taste them, though. If you wanted a more beany taste, using a stronger bean like butter beans or borlotti beans would be best, as would upping the amount used and perhaps reserving some for after blending
-The corn and brussel sprouts worked quite well... the corn gave a sweet crunchiness and the sprouts a nice green solid feel. Broccoli or cauliflower would work quite well, put in a bit after the pasta
-The dates, honey, cinnamon, and cloves helped to make the soup a bit sweet and really complement the roasted pumpkin taste. The chili gave a bit of a bite that worked quite well with the the mellowness of the rest of the soup. It wasn't too sweet by any means; just had a nice richness to it
-Cream (coconut, especially) would not hurt this soup
-Make a large batch! This freezes quite well (almost better the 2nd day)

Spicy Pumpkin, Cauliflower, Chickpea with Rice

I found this recipe in our local Brisbane magazine. It looked delicious, healthy, and pretty easy and so I gave it a whirl. It called for couscous, which I didn't have, so I used medium-grain rice instead.
Prepare:
-Cook 1-1.5 cups of rice
-Dice pumpkin, onion, hot pepper, and cauliflower into small chunks-Crush a couple cloves of garlic
-Drain 1 can of chickpeas
-Prepare spices and herbs: cumin, curry powder, basil, parsley
Cook:
-In a wok on medium heat, lightly fry garlic in (olive) oil
-Throw in onion, cauliflower, and pumpkin and cook for about 10 minutes-Add spicy pepper and cook for about 5-1o more minutes, or until veggies are tender (stick a fork in a piece of pumpkin and if it comes out easily, then it's ready)-Add chickpeas, 1/2-1 tsp cumin and curry powder, as well as salt, pepper, etc.-Cook through for about 5 minutes or until chickpeas are fully heated and semi-cooked
-Mix in rice, once stirred through, rice should acquire brown quality
-Serve with a bit of olive oil and some fresh, chopped basil and parsley (I didn't have fresh so I used dried, unfortunately)Tips:
-Zucchini would go great in this (in fact, that's what the recipe called for), I would add it in with the peppers. Broccoli would be good, too.
-I didn't have any curry powder, so I used extra cumin, some pico de gallo and

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

When I was making the pumpkin soup a couple days ago, I was sure to save the seeds. Toasted pumpkin seeds are a relatively easy and delicious snack, not to mention fairly healthy.
Prepare:
-Seed a pumpkin, separating the seeds from the pulp as best you can. It will be a bit slimy
-Wash the seeds. I placed the seeds in a bit of water and let it soak for about 5 minutes, twirling every so often - this helps to further separate the pulp and leave just the seed. Scoop or sieve out the seeds (but not the pulp) and spread out on a plate
-Leave the plate out and let the seeds dry overnight. I left mine for two days (due to time constraints) and they were still good-Once they're dry, toss them in a bowl with a bit of olive oil, so they're all covered
-Lay them on a oven-proof pan/foil and sprinkle seasonings on top: salt, pepper, cumin, etc... whatever you like. I used garlic salt and red pepper powderCook:
-Preheat oven/toaster oven to 250F
-Place pan in oven
-Toast for one hour, mixing up the seeds every 20 minutesUpdate:
-I made this again with cracked black pepper, garlic salt, and cumin and it turned out quite well. I think my next go will be in a different vein: brown sugar and cinnamon
-I made brown sugar and cinnamon and it did not turn out well at all, sad to say. Either the butter or the sugar were unable to withstand the temperatures of the toaster oven for an hour, since it charred. Also, the seeds hardly tasted sweet or cinnamony. Oh well - I guess I'll stick with savory

Creamy Pumpkin Soup with Cinnamon Toast

I love soups. You may have noticed. Usually I just through a bunch of vegetables in a pot, boil it, puree and eat. This time I decided to focus the veggie a bit and add a little depth to the meal. I got the idea to serve the creamy pumpkin soup with cinnamon toast from a recipe on allrecipes and I decided it was just crazy enough to work.

Prepare Soup:-Peel and cube a bunch of pumpkin, maybe 3 cups worth. I find that peeling a pumpkin with a peeler is not fun and so I just used a knife and sliced off the rind. Alternatively, you could steam/boil the pumpkin for about 10 minutes and then the peel comes off easily. Also remove the seeds (but don't throw them away!)-Dice about half an onion. It doesn't matter the size of the pieces as you will be boiling and pureeing them
-Optional: get a hot pepper. I find that the pepper doesn't detract from the taste and gives it a nice kick. I used 1 habanero and that was just fine.
-Ready (soy) milk, cornflour, bay leaf, salt, oil or butter, some crushed garlic, cheese, and any other spice you like
Cook:
-Lightly fry the garlic and onion in butter or oil for about 5 minutes, or until onion is tender in a decent-sized pot-Throw in the pumpkin for about a minute or two, letting it coat itself in oily goodness-Add water: the level should be a bit short of the height of the pumpkin (the pumpkin condenses as you cook it and you don't want the soup too watery... as long as you mix every 5-10 minutes then everything should cook evenly)
-Add crushed bay leaf and other spices.
-Lower heat, cover, and let simmer for an hour, mixing every 10 minutes until the pumpkin is at the level of the water
-Puree once everything is very cooked-Put back on medium heat, mixing in 1/4 cup -1/2 cup of milk and a bit of flour to thicken it up. You can also add some cheese to give it a nice creaminess (I used fresh mozzarella)
-I like to throw fresh spring onion on top, adding to it a crisp oniony flavor

Prepare Toast (2 slices):
-Preheat (toaster) oven to 400F
-Melt a tbsp of butter (more if you like a more buttery toast)
-Mix with 1/2 tbsp of brown sugar and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon (more if you like cinnamony taste)Cook:
-Toast for about 10 minutes, or until top is bubbly/browning
Tips:
-I also fried up some bacon for this dinner. The salty smokiness of the bacon is really complementary with the creamy pumpkininess of the soup and the cinnamon sweetness of the bread
-You can quarter or eighth the toast and mix it in the soup
-You can fry the bacon with the onion when making the soup originally, and make it a pumpkin and bacon soup.
-Some people like this soup curry style and so add curry powder or cumin and tumeric as well as coconut milk for the milk. Others like it sweet pumpkin-pieish and so add cinnamon, nutmeg, etc

Pumpkin and Potato Gnocchi

Gnocchi are tasty and surprisingly easy to make. Usually anything you have lying around the house will suffice. I've made plain potato gnocchi before, but this time around decided to make it a little more different and combine with pumpkin.
Prepare:
-Peel and chop potato and pumpkin
-Put on a tray and into a pre-heated oven (around 350F) for 20 minutes or until firm and tender (you can stick a fork and it goes all the way in, but comes out easily)-Set aside to cool for a bit (you will be handling them with your hands so cool enough that they don't hurt you)
-In a large bowl, beat 1 egg, and mix in 1 crushed clove of garlic (optional) as well as some salt
-Mash the potato and pumpkin with the egg until it's pretty liquidy-At this time, heat up a pot full of lightly salted water
-Pour in flour, about 1/4 cup at a time, constantly mixing, until it reaches a consistency that it's not so sticky on your hands, but still sticks together and can be rolled
-Roll into several "snake" shapes on a dusted surface
-Cut into bite size piecesCook:
-When the water is at a rolling boil, put the gnocchi in one by one. Don't dump them all in at the same time or the water will stop boiling too suddenly

-Once they start floating to the top (3-4 minutes), take them out-I ate them with homemade pesto, fresh basil, Parmesan, crushed red pepper, and garlic salt

Tips:

-Any normal pasta sauce will do: tomato, creamy cheese, etc. They would even work with just olive oil or butter or sour cream with some dry condiments
-I did equal parts pumpkin and potato, and it gave it a more neutral taste with neither dominating. If you wanted a more sweet flavor, I would do only pumpkin or substitute sweet potato for the potato
-Mashing in a fresh garlic clove was tasty, but a bit strong. Next time I will roast the garlic with the veggies to give a more subtle taste

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I bought some pumpkin the other day at the market with a dream to make something but no idea what. A soup crossed my mind, but then I stumbled across an interesting recipe for cookies on allrecipes.com.
Preheat oven to ~175C/350F.
In a large bowl, mix:
1 1/2-2 cups of canned or fresh pumpkin (for fresh, roast some pumpkin for around 30 minutes or until soft at ~175C/350F, then mash)1 cup sugar
1/2 cup of vegetable oil (NB: applesauce can be substituted for oil. In this recipe I did about 1/3 cup apple sauce and a bit oil, so it gives it a little fatty taste)
1 egg
Since I my pumpkin mashed, it didn't turn out so creamy, so I put the above 4 in a blender and pureed for a little bit (though not too long, as you don't want to whip the egg).
In a different bowl sift:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and/or any other of that kind of spice you have lying around
1/2 tsp of saltThen, mix the 2 aforementioned bowls and add 1 tsp of baking soda that has been dissolved in 1 tbsp of milk. I don't know what this does, but that's what the recipe called for.
Finally, add 1 tbsp of vanilla essence and as much chocolate chips as you'd like (I think I did about 1 1/2 cups) and mix well.The final dough should be pretty liquid and gloopy, unlike Natash's cookies. I tasted mine and it was lacking something, so I grated some fresh nutmeg (which I hadn't added in the first place) and it tasted much better. Always make sure to taste your dough! The final product usually tastes better, but it's convenient to spot a mistake ahead of time before you pop it in the oven and are screwed.
Spoon balls onto greased baking sheet or baking paper on a pan. Let bake for ~10 minutes or until lightly brown and pretty firm.
The top batch are cooked, the bottom were just slopped on.
Enjoy with some milk and don't forget to share.