Miranda has selected two recipes from the book with an Autumnal feel, ideal for this month’s issue:
PUMPKIN SOUP WITH BLACK OLIVE AND FETA QUESADILLAS
enough for 6–8 for the soup • 100g butter • 2 leeks, chopped • 2 cloves garlic, crushed • 1.5kg pumpkin or dense squash,such as butternut, choppedinto small cubes •1.5l chicken stock •100ml double cream
for the quesadillas
• 8 tortilla wraps • 4 tablespoons black olive tapenade • 200g feta cheese • 2–3 tablespoons olive oil for frying
“I love to use a mixture of butternut squash and the beautiful, if sometimes, impenetrable, blue-skinned Crown Prince pumpkin.
This was my autumn lunch de jour in Sydney. I used to devour vast vats of the velvety stuff alongside a toasted focaccia sandwich filled with kalamata olive tapenade. I have upgraded the focaccia sandwich to a slimline quesadilla made from flatbread, such as a tortilla. Along with the black olive and feta filling, this is a much lower carb hit, especially handy if it’s going to be lunch.
In a large, heavy-based pan, melt the butter and add the chopped leeks and garlic. Cook over a low to moderate heat until the leeks
have softened, but not browned. Add the chopped pumpkin or squash and give it a stir, then add the stock. Let this simmer away with the lid on for about 30 minutes, until the pumpkin is cooked through. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the mixture to cool slightly. Blitz with a hand-held blender, or decant to a liquidiser and blend to the desired consistency. Stir in the cream, then set to one side.
To make each quesadilla, take a tortilla wrap, spread the tapenade over half of the circle not going too close to the edge and scatter with crumbled feta. Fold the sides together and fry on a lightly oiled, ridged griddle or in an oiled frying pan for 2–3 minutes each side, pressing down and flattening the tortilla ever so slightly as it cooks. Slice in two and and enjoy with the soup on the side – or is it the other way around?”
APPLE GALETTE makes 10–12 slices • 500g puff pastry
• 6 apples, peeled, cored and sliced into thin segments • 50g caster sugar • 50g butter
• juice of 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons apricot jam • 50g pistachios
“This tray-sized tart with fanned, sliced apples is perfect for large-scale gatherings; think barbecue, child’s birthday. It can be scaled up very easily, or you can make two of these in tandem without much extra effort. It can also be prepared ahead of timeand served cold with cream. Children enjoy ‘painting’ the tart with apricot jam and sprinkling on the pistachios. I used organic golden delicious the last time I made this and they didn’t oxidize while I cut and arranged them, and they tasted fab too! I tend to cut the galette into postcard-sized pieces and encourage guests to eat it like pizza.
Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas mark 5.
On a counter top dusted with flour, roll out the puff pastry into a rectangle to fit a large baking sheet. Score a rim an inch or so from the edges.
Lay the sliced apples across the pastry in rows of opposing directions (see picture opposite), leaving the scored rim clear.
Scatter the sugar over the whole tart, dot with blobs of butter and squeeze half the lemon juice over.
Cook for 15–20 minutes, until the apples are cooked through (test with a knife) and the pastry is golden. Set aside to cool. In a small pan, heat the jam and remaining lemon juice untilrunny. Then, with a pastry brush, paint the cooled tart all over,including the pasty edge, and sprinkle with pistachios.”
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