Okay, so I recently shared on my rainy day off about my day of cooking. For quick how-to’s, you can also check out the short videos I put on up TikTok
I hate those recipe blogs that make you read a life story before getting down to it – so let’s go. Here are the How-To for Vegetable Stock, Apple Butter, Making Pumpkin Purée, Pumpkin Seeds, and Pumpkin Risotto (Just keep scrolling)
Vegetable Stock
You cannot get this wrong. This recipe is economical and reduces food waste. You can keep a bag or container in the freezer in which you collect ends of carrots, leftover half of an onion, celery tops, green onion ends, a left over clove of garlic, leftover herbs….until you need to make a batch of stock. The stock itself freezes well – so consider doubling this and freezing extra.
- 2. large carrots, roughly chopped, no need to peel, can include ends
- 2 stalks celery or handful of celery tops/leaves
- 1 large onion or equivalent. Can leave peel on.
- cloves garlic, bashed, no need to peel. Amount to taste.
- Other vegetables or kitchen scraps: leeks, green onions, ends of squash or aubergine, etc
- Assorted herbs, based on taste and availability: parsley, thyme, bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt (optional. Skip if using as a base for weaning recipes or need to reduce salt intake)
- 1 litre water
Chop carrot, celery, and onion into 2-3 cm chunks. No need to peel. You’re just going to toss them into a big pot.
(Feeling fancy? You can add a step here and soften the vegetables in a tablespoon of cooking oil for 5 to 10 minutes.)
Otherwise, Add salt if using and water and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, uncovered, 30 -60 minutes.Strain. Discard vegetables.
Apple Butter
Apple Butter is really just concentrated applesauce, but can be a really tasty added to porridge, for example. There are fancy recipes, but here we are going to keep it very simple. Again, we are reducing food waste. This is a good use for all those apples that are too tart for eating but your neighbour keeps gifting you anyway.
Ingredients:
Apples, as many apples as you have or feel like peeling. Apples should be washed, peeled, cored, and roughly chopped. Don’t worry about size/shape – it’s all ending up as mush.
Spices: This is to taste, but any combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger and cloves all work here. Food economics: Spices are expensive but a good investment if you are trying to eat healthy as they aren’t salt, they aren’t sugar but they do pack the flavour. The cheapest way to buy them is in bulk; you can find good options in ethnic food shops (My local is Cinnamon Spice Heaven and they have great options.)
Method:
Add apples pieces, splash of water, and spices to a slow cooker and cook on low for around 8 hours or high for around 4-6 hours. You can also do this on the hob on low heat for around 2 hours. This will be very soft. You can stir through with potato masher to ensure now lumps. Allow to cool. Refridgerate, freeze, or can. Serve on bread, toast, or in porridge.
Turn Pumpkin Into Purée
Okay, there are 2 ways to do this.
Method 1: Halve your pumpkin. Use a spoon to remove the seeds (save those!) and fibrous strands (the “guts”) Peel to remove the skin (thin, shiny, hard, orange skin). Cut the pale yellow “meat” or pulp into 3cm chunks and boil in a pot of lightly salted water for about 25 minutes or until very soft. Drain, cool, and mash with either potato masher, handheld blender, or food processor.
Method 2: Wash your pumpkin. If your pumpkin is small (<1kg), just wash and poke ventilation holes with a knife. If it is any bigger, halve your pumpkin. Remove the fibrous strands and seeds (keep those!) Place cut side down on roasting or baking tray (line with parchment paper or foil – this will get sticky!) Bake at 190 degrees Celsius for 45-60 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. The skin will now by easy to remove with your fingers or a spoon. If you have a small whole pumpkin, now remove stem and seeds/fibrous strands. Collect the cooked pulp in a both and purée using a blender or food processor.
The pumpkin puree is now ready to use as-is as a weaning food or in a recipe like pumpkin bread or pumpkin risotto. It freezes really well!
Pumpkin Seeds
Okay, remember you saved those seeds from the roasting or boiling the pumpkin? Firstly, if possible, outsource picking the seeds out of the fibrous strands (“guts”) if you can. Tiny fingers are great for this and my sons love it (slimy!)
Rinse the seeds in a colander and pat dry. Toss lightly with oil and place on a baking sheets. Lightly salt. Bake in oven for 12 minute at 180 degrees (keep close eye if fan assisted oven). Allow to cool and store in an air-tight container. These are great tasty little snacks and will not last long.
Pumpkin Risotto
Ingredients
- Around 600-800g of pumpkin purée (see above)
- handful of thyme or marjoram
- Around 1200 mL vegetable stock (see above)
- 1 onion (I use frozen diced)
- 1 stick of celery
- 300 g Arborio risotto rice
- 150 ml white wine
- 1 tablespoon of neutral cooking oil of your choice
- 50 g Parmesan cheese (plant-based preferable, but up to you)
- Knob of butter (plant-based preferable, but up to you)
How to:
- Chop the onion and celery, then place in a high-sided pan on a medium heat with 1 tablespoon of oil. Soften for 10 minutes but don’t let them turn brown. Add the rice for 2 minutes.
- Next, add the wine and stir until absorbed.
- Next, start adding stock. Use a ladle or cup to add about 150 -200 mL. Let it fully absorb. Then repeat. Don’t walk away from this one. You will need to gently stir and add 150mL of stock until the rice is cooked – average time around 17 minutes.
Halfway through, stir in your pumpkin puree..
When the risotto is done, add enough extra stock to make the risotto saucy or “oozy”. Stir through the grated parmesan and butter. - Turn off the heat and put cover on pan and allow to rest for 2 minutes before serving. Do not skip this step.
- Serve with green vegetable.
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