I spent all day (!) in the kitchen the other day, with a pumpkin, some home-grown tomatoes and some cooking inspiration. I desperately wanted to cook something wholesome, spiced and autumnal, using-up as many odds and ends as possible. The decision was made to find a pumpkin pie recipe, and with half of the pumpkin make a pie, with the other half, a soup. I must admit, I thought the pumpkin pie would be not only a disaster, but an icky disaster, as I completely failed to see why anyone would like to eat such a thing, but as I'm a glutton for deserts of all kinds, I went along and had a go (and very glad I did so, too!).



I made my own pastry, because a) I enjoy making the stuff, and b) nothing bought is as good as my own - so there! It was a pâté sucrée (or sweet, rich shortcrust) from Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall's River Cottage Cookbook. I blind-baked it first, having got the pumpkin itself softened, cooled and blended. To that you then add the makings of what is, essentially, a custard-tart (eggs, cream, spices, sugar). Mix, add to pastry, cook. It did set, to my sheer delight, and what's more, it tasted absolutely amazing. I made two and have frozen one, for a cool night when nothing less will do but spicy, warm treats. A recipe similar to the one I used is here, although I didn't use honey (preferring light soft brown sugar) and I altered all of the ratios of ingredients to taste.

The soup is a simple thing to do, so simple I can do it by rote, because soups have to be one of the most comforting foods possible (and so yummy!). Did I mention I also roasted a tray of our home grown tomatoes, with herbs and garlic, until beautifully soft and caremelised, blitzed them thoroughly and used them as the pasata topping for Nigella's My Involtini (it can't be Nigella's, it's been changed so much over the months to suit my moods, and pantry). The sharp tang of unripe tomatoes mixed with the ripe, and also garlic, olive oil and herbs just made this pasta sauce heaven (see below)!



All in all, a pretty good day's work!