I tend to eat a lot of pasta, I suspect most vegans do. It's quick and easy, but tomato based sauces can get repetitive, and creamy sauces just aren't an everyday thing. I usually have a chunk of pumpkin mouldering in the back of the fridge... pumpkin lasagne is good, why not pumpkin pasta sauce? The first time I made this, I raved about it for days afterwards, it really is that good, and simple enough to make for an everyday dinner.

Roast pumpkin pasta sauce

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients

• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 3 cups mashed roast pumpkin
• ½ cup nutritional yeast
• 1 vegetable bullion cube
• ¾ cup soy milk, or to desired consistency
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• I cup walnuts, Crumbled (for garnish)

• 1 packet fettuccine

Method

1. Get water boiling, and then prepare fettuccine according to packet directions.
2. While waiting for the water to boil, in a medium saucepan, cook onion and garlic until translucent.
3. Meanwhile, dry-toast walnuts in a frying pan or in the oven until fragrant (optional but worth it).
4. Add pumpkin, bullion cube, soy milk and nutritional yeast, and some freshly ground black pepper. Heat through
5. Use an immersion blender to puree. Alternatively, cool, and transfer to a blender.
6. Serve atop fettuccine, garnished with walnuts, and some more freshly ground pepper

How to roast a whole pumpkin

A lot of American recipes call for canned pumpkin. I don't know if you can actually buy it here, I haven't checked, but it's certainly not an everyday pantry item. Besides, I like to avoid cans, because waste and expense.

Since roast pumpkin tastes so much better than boiled or microwaved, roast pumpkin puree is obviously the way to go, so I've always chopped up my pumpkin and roasted it to use in recipes that call for canned pumpkin. However, I recently tried a method with less prep work, and I don't think I’ll ever go back.

Roast pumpkin (whole)

Ingredients

• 1 whole smallish pumpkin
• Olive oil for brushing

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180.
2. Wash and dry the pumpkin, any dust left on the skin can cause problems as it collapses with cooking.
3. Cut in half, scoop out the seeds and stringy bis.
4. Brush cut face with olive oil and place face down on a rimmed baking tray. If there's no lip, you will end up having to clean pumpkin juice off the bottom of your oven. Don't ask me how I know.
5. Put the tray in the oven, and cook until you can easily pierce the skin with a fork. This will vary depending on the size of your pumpkin, but it will probably take around 1.5 hours, start checking earlier if your pumpkin is on the smaller side.
6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool until you can safely touch it.
7. Flip the pumpkin over, and scoop the flesh out. I transfer it to a bowl and roughly mash it. If you need it to be sans any stringy bits for a more fancy dish (such as scones), then you can either push it through a mesh sieve, or attack it with a stick mixer or blender. If you're baking with it, you may also wish to drain it through a strainer to get rid of the excess water.

Pumpkin-based recipes coming soon (I hope!).

Pumpkin risotto (vegan)

I never ate risotto as a child. Dad doesn't approve of mushy rice, and risotto falls into that category for him, so we just never ate it. While mushy rice with stir fry is rather gross, risotto is delicious. Sorry Dad, you're wrong on this one.

Pumpkin Risotto

Serves: 4-6
Veganized and otherwise improved from: Charlie Palmer

Notes

• Because you use so much stock and it gets cooked down, if you don't use salt-reduced stock, it might end up crazy salty, especially if, like me, you always make a stronger than recommended stock. I haven't had problems with Massel stock (not salt reduced), but last time I used Vegeta and it was over-salty. You have been warned.
• I've erred on the conservative side with the nutritional yeast. I suggest adding the 1/4 cup, and then adding extra to individual plates if desired.

Ingredients

• 2 + 2 tablespoons olive oil (light, not virgin), divided
• 2 medium onions, the first can be coarsely chopped, the second should be finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 600g pumpkin, peeled and diced
• 3/4 cup dry white wine (or water)
• 1 ½ teaspoons nutmeg
• About 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 7 cups salt-reduced vegetable stock
• 2 ½ tablespoons vegan butter (optional)
• 1 ½ cups arborio rice
• ½ cup nutritional yeast

Method

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan (I usually use a wok, it's unconventional, but it works well). Add the coarsely chopped onions and the garlic,and cook over a moderate heat until the onions are translucent.

2. Add the pumpkin, and cook, stirring frequently, until the pumpkin is just tender, about 7 minutes. 

3. Stir in the wine, nutmeg, and white pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

4. In a medium saucepan, cover the stock and bring to the boil, then reduce heat so it's just simmering. 
5. Purée the pumpkin mixture. I usually a stick mixer, but you can use a food processor or blender. I like to leave it with a bit of texture, but if you prefer smooth, do that. Set aside within easy reach. 
6. Wipe out the pan/wok you used for the pumpkin, and add the remaining oil. When it's hot, add the rice and the remaining onions and cook over moderately high heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the onions are translucent, about 7 minutes.

7. Add a ladle-full of the hot stock and cook, stirring constantly, until all of the liquid has been absorbed. Sorry, no photos from here on, because of the need for constant stirring.
8. Add about 2/3 of the remaining stock, a ladle-full at a time, stirring constantly, and waiting until the stock is almost completely absorbed before adding the next. The pan should be hot enough that the stock continues to simmer when it hits the pan, but isn't rapidly boiling. This should take about 20 minutes. 
9. Stir in the pumpkin mixture, and stir for a few minutes until it thickens. 
10. Continue adding the remaining stock, again a ladle-full at a time, again waiting until most of the liquid is absorbed, though it will be looser now. This should take approximately 5 minutes longer.
11. Stir in the vegan butter and nutritional yeast. Serve immediately.

Thai kick pumpkin soup (vegan)

I love soup, and pumpkin soup is a winter staple. However, sometimes, you want something a little different, or sometimes you just want to use up that jar of red curry paste that's been in your fridge for over a year so there's one less thing to take with you when you move. Sometimes, you want both. Whatever the motivation, this soup is a great twist on the old classic.

Note that you don't need to fuss too much about how you chop everything, as it will all be blended in the end anyway. Check the Thai red curry paste, some contain shrimp paste. Five Tastes brand is safe, and I know others are too.

Thai kick pumpkin soup

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients

• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly minced
• 2 teaspoons ginger paste
• 1-2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste (cooking for myself, I would use 1.5, cooking for Hunter, I used 1) 
• 1kg pumpkin, diced (about 1.25kg before peeling and de-seeding)
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1 400mL can coconut milk
• Coriander

Method

1. Saute onions in a bit of oil until translucent
2. Add garlic, ginger and curry paste and fry until fragrant
3. Add pumpkin, then add stock
4. Bring to the boil, then simmer, covered, for 15-20 minutes or until pumpkin is soft
5. Use a stick mixer to blend the soup. Alternatively, if you don't have a stick mixer, or if you have packed your stick mixer away in anticipation of a move that has been delayed, leaving you grumpy and without a stick mixer, allow the soup to cool and transfer to a blender or food processor and process in batches, then return to saucepan.
6. Stir through coconut milk, and if necessary, turn heat back on to heat through. If you're feeling fancy, reserve a bit of the coconut milk to drizzle onto the soup like you would cream.
7. Garnish with coriander. If you're not trying to impress anyone, the stuff out of a tube works really well, because it's easy to stir through for an even distribution of flavour.

What's your favourite winter soup?