In our quest to resurrect interest in pumpkins beyond the ‘supermarket’ halloween pumpkin that the UK is most familiar with, we grew a small quantity of the culinary acclaimed Galeux d’Eysines heritage squash. Packed off with a nice family sized specimen, Jacky and Graham were tasked with recreating the pumpkin bolognaise dish popular on the continent.
Here is their photo record of the big event:
Step 1: Prepare Bolognaise
….on an Aga with two dogs just in case anything falls on the floor
Step 2: Prepare the Pumpkin
Get a Massive Pumpkin
Cut a star shape out, carefully, with a really big knife.
Really struggle to get the flippin thing out. Utilise a teenager and all sorts of kitchen equipment, bend a lot of it.
Remove the seeds and stringy bits
Step 3: Pour in the Bolognaise
Put the lid back on the pumpkin and rub olive oil all over the outside, to make it look nice.
Put it on a massive foil lined tray. Fail to fit it in the Aga! Electric oven to the rescue.
Step 4: Cook in the oven
180 degrees for about 1- 1.5 hours.
Step 5: Remove from the oven
Remove the lid, once again requiring creative use of kitchen equipment.
Step 6: Improvement
Needs loads of freshly grated parmesan
Step 7: Serve
With garlic bread & crusty bread to a hungry group of 8.
Step 8: Leftovers
All the leftover pumpkin – and PLENTY of it. Whizzed with the hand whizzer, frozen in portions to thin down with chicken stock and make soup, or to make a yummy sauce for curry.
Nom nom nom
x
Graham & Jacky O’Hanlon