So, remember our pear tree? Yes, the one with an awful lot of pears on it. We’ve been really enjoying eating them in crumbles, purées, stewed but mainly au naturel and sometimes with cheese. Delicious. But they don’t store. I know, I tried it out. I spent ages wrapping a load up in newspaper and storing them somewhere cool and dark only to find a horrible, stinky mush a few days ago. Nasty.
Luckily we really did make the most of them and one of the dishes I made was a hearty soup using some of the crisper, under ripe pears left at the very end.
Ingredients (serves 4 as a main course)
- About 1kg of pumpkin or squash (peeled, seeded and cut into cubes)
- 3 medium pears (peeled and cut into cubes)
- 50ml olive oil
- 1 teaspoon each of ground cumin and ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger (peeled and grated)
- 1 level teaspoon of hot chilli powder (or to taste)
- 3 cloves of garlic (peeled and crushed)
- 1 tin (400g) coconut milk
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Smoked pimenton to serve
(Inspired by a recipe from the book Economy Gastronomy)
Heat the oil and add the pumpkin. Fry on a medium heat until it starts to colour a little (you may need to do this in batches) then add the spices and garlic. Cook for a minute then add the pear, coconut milk and stock. Simmer for about 30 minutes, blend to a texture you enjoy (I used a stick blender) season to taste and serve with a sprinkle of smoked pimenton.
For any of you who are wondering what the heck I’ve been up to in the absence of great cooking facilities (and apart from house renovations), I decided to set myself up with a little winter project. I am hand making a patchwork quilt, following (sort of) a design pattern.
Am really enjoying making the quilt top but may back out of hand quilting it myself. We’ll see. Perhaps next year I’ll be eating this soup snuggled under my quilt!
Chica Andaluza 