Yes, it's always sad to say goodbye to summer, but there's a fine consolation prize when it comes to the wonderfully comforting, warming dishes that autumn brings.
Pumpkin and caramelised onion lasagne with truffled walnut and sage butter
Serves 8
Never let anyone say vegetarian lasagne is boring. Sweet pumpkin and caramelised onions are layered up with creamy ricotta and a final flourish of decadent truffled butter.
Ingredients
Pumpkin
800g crown pumpkin (grey skin) peeled, deseededand roughly chopped 1 brown onion,
thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 Tbsp finely chopped thyme
1 cup vegetable stock
Sea salt and ground pepper
Ricotta
350g firm ricotta
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 lemon, finely grated zest only
1 cup grated parmesan
1 large egg
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
To assemble
300g fresh lasagne sheets
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
Caramelised onions (either store-bought or make your own - see here for a recipe)
800 grams crown pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and very thinly sliced
Parmesan for, grating
1 ball fresh mozzarella in whey, well drained
Truffled walnut and sage butter (see recipe below)
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan bake.
2. For the pumpkin: Place all the ingredients in a baking dish and season. Cover tightly with foil and roast for 40 minutes until tender. Blitz in a food processor until smooth.
3. For the ricotta: Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blitz until smooth. Season generously.
4.To assemble: Spread a thin layer of the pumpkin sauce in the base of a large ovenproof dish then cover with lasagne sheets. Spoon over half each of the remaining pumpkin sauce, ricotta, grated mozzarella and the caramelised onions. Cover with a layer of the sliced raw pumpkin and season with salt and pepper.
5. Repeat to make one more layer ending with the onions and raw pumpkin and leaving some of the onions uncovered. Brush the pumpkin with a little olive oil and season. Top with a good grating of parmesan then cover tightly with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and tear mozzarella to distribute over the top. Bake uncovered for a further 15 minutes, or until the top is lightly golden. Leave for 15 minutes then spoon over the truffled butter, if making.
Truffled walnut and sage butter
Makes about ⅓ cup
The butter is still delicious if you don't want to use truffle powder.
100g butter
10 large fresh sage leaves
½ cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp truffle powder or more to taste (we used Giluliano Truffle Powder)
Sea salt
1. Melt the butter in a medium saute pan. Add the sage leaves to kitchen towels. Add the walnuts, truffle powder and salt to the pan and cook until the butter is nutty and golden brown. Tip into a bowl so the butter doesn't burn.
- Recipe by Claire Aldous
Herby cheese and kumara lentil pies
Makes 10
Fancy a bit of cheesy, flaky, pastry deliciousness? Read on.
Ingredients
2 Tbsp each olive oil and butter
1 brown onion, chopped
1 stick celery, chopped
1 large orange kūmara, peeled, cut into 4cm chunks
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
4 sprigs thyme
4 cloves garlic, crushed
Sea salt and ground pepper
2 Tbsp flour
¾ cup whole milk
½ cup grated parmesan
400-gram tin lentils, drained
750 grams ready-rolled puff pastry sheets (5)
1 egg, whisked
2 tsp sesame seeds
Directions
1. Very lightly grease 2 oven trays. Melt the oil and butter together in a large heavy-based pot. Add the onion, celery, kūmara, rosemary, thyme and garlic, and season well with salt and pepper. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes until the kūmara is just cooked through. Sprinkle in the flour, stir to combine then add the milk and stir as it cooks and thickens. Stir in the parmesan and lentils and set aside to chill for at least 30 minutes and up to 6 hours.
2. Cut each pastry sheet into 4 squares. Divide the filling between half of the squares and top with the remaining pastry squares. Seal the edges by pressing with the tines of a fork. Compress the pastry around the filling as you go then trim the edges neatly with a sharp knife. Slice 2 small slashes on the top of each pie, brush with egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Refrigerate while the oven preheats to 180°C.
3. Bake the pies on the prepared oven trays for 20-25 minutes, or until golden.
- Recipe by Sarah Tuck
Roasted pumpkin and ricotta stuffed pasta with hazelnut and sage brown butter
Serves 4-6
Is there a more evocative marriage of flavours than roasted pumpkin, sage, hazelnuts and browned butter? This dish always gets rave reviews.
Ingredients
20 large pasta shells
Filling
1kg butternut or crown pumpkin, peeled, seeded
3 Tbsp olive oil
Sea salt and ground pepper
300g firm ricotta
½ cup freshly grated parmesan
2 cloves garlic, crushed
½ tsp ground nutmeg
1 large lemon, finely grated zest only
2 large egg yolks
To cook
1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup cream
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Freshly grated parmesan
To finish
100g butter
8 large fresh sage leaves
2 tsp sherry vinegar or lemon juice
½ cup chopped roasted hazelnuts
¼ tsp sea salt
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan bake. Cook the pasta shells according to the packet directions and drain well.
2. For the filling: Cut the pumpkin into large chunks and place on a large baking tray. Toss with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes or until very tender. Transfer to a large bowl and crush with a fork, leaving it a little chunky. The pumpkin can be cooked 2 days ahead. Add the ricotta, parmesan, garlic, nutmeg, lemon zest and egg yolks. Season generously with salt and pepper.
3. To cook: Fill each pasta shell loosely with the pumpkin mixture and place in a large ovenproof baking dish or sauté pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Mix the stock, cream and garlic together, season and pour around the shells. Grate over a generous amount of parmesan. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling and reduced and the tops are golden.
4. To assemble: Melt the butter in a medium sauté pan. Add the sage leaves and cook until the butter is a nutty, golden-brown and the sage is crisp. Remove the sage leaves and stir in the vinegar or lemon juice, hazelnuts and salt. Set aside and keep warm. Spoon the hazelnut butter over the top and scatter over the sage leaves.
- Recipe by Claire Aldous
Find more great recipes at dish.co.nz
