Harvesting parsnips

RB and I harvested the first dozen of our parsnips last weekend. A few frosts are purported to improve the flavour of parsnips, so with a couple of cold spells behind us we decided to start harvesting.

These parsnips took a bit more work to get out of the ground than carrots. We had to carefully dig away the dirt from the top third of each parsnip, enough to hold it and twist it out of its place. It is worth being careful as the parsnips can snap in place if tugged or bent in haste.

Roast parsnips are a favourite, but our first batch went into a spicy soup for 10 people. We used Jamie Oliver’s recipe which incorporates Garam Masala, and it was a resounding hit. As the soup is fairly dense it also looks great with a little olive oil and fresh coriander decoration on top.

Parsnips can be left in the ground until January, a great way to save room in the refrigerator and provide fresh home grown vegetables for the holidays.

This has to be one of the biggest winners of our vegetable garden this year – easy to sow, relatively low maintenance, and big reward when most of our kitchen garden has already stopped producing.

Autumn flower arrangement: gourds

There is something buried in our psyche that attracts us to anything in miniature, and the same goes for baby gourds. Not only are they ‘cute’, but they are infinitely interesting and exotic. RB and I were at a garden centre yesterday and found these little ornamental gourds (with the exception of the baby butternut, which was a runt from our own plot).

They are a little on the pricey side, but with how long they will last they provide some visual value for money, not to mention a talking point – from a mini turk’s turban to the strange sputnik looking one. And whilst they are not strictly flowers they do make an excellent and colourful arrangement that will last during the busy holiday season.

I have piled a few into the pot with a Cambria orchid.

You can grown these gourds yourself and I may give it a go next year. Seeds of some interesting varieties are carried at Unwins and Nicky’s Nursury.

Butternut squash tortellini

A few weeks ago RB and I harvested our butternut squash and have been very pleased with the taste. Having recently been to a cooking class I decided I had better put some of my new skills to use and make Ravioli – only a last minute decision turned them into tortellini.

Ravioli/tortellini do take time, but they aren’t as difficult as they may seem. You don’t need a pasta machine, although one helps – I made do with a rolling pin and good old-fashioned effort.

Find a pasta dough recipe using ‘00′ flour.

Create your filling. Mine is on the right, made of butternut squash, garlic, salt and sage. On the left I mixed together the last of our home-grown vegetables as an accompaniment which I threw into the oven with olive oil and sea salt.

I used a cookie cutter to cut the shapes and dotted them with filling. Make sure the surface is well floured to avoid sticking, and that your dough is SUPER thin. You should be able to read through it.

Use a paint brush (or your fingers, as I did) to paint water on the edges before closing into the shape of your choice.

Serve with sage gently cooked in butter. Et voilà!