In the run-up to Halloween, massive (and watery) orange pumpkins fill shop shelves, ready to be carved into spooky faces. Choose instead the smaller, tastier specimens – grown for their flavour rather than size – in these beautiful dishes and see why pumpkins and squash are prized the world over
RECIPES TOM SHINGLER PHOTOGRAPHS MAJA SMEND FOOD STYLING KATY MCCLELLAND STYLING WEI TANG
Venison with pumpkin mash and cavolo nero
Serves 4-6 Hands-on time 1 hour Oven time 3 hours
MAKE AHEAD
The venison, pumpkin mash and sauce can be made up to 3 days ahead and kept in the fridge. Gently reheat each element on the hob until piping hot throughout.
EASY SWAPS
Struggling to find venison? Use beef brisket instead but trim off any particularly fatty bits to stop the sauce becoming greasy.
• 1kg venison shoulder, bone removed (ask your butcher to do this)
• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 carrot, roughly chopped
• 1 celery stick, roughly chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 star anise
• 1 tsp juniper berries
• 1 litre beef stock
• 500ml good red wine
• 1kg pumpkin
• 75g unsalted butter
• 3 thyme sprigs
• 50ml double cream
• 400g cavolo nero
1 Heat the oven to 120°C fan/gas 1. Put a deep saucepan or hob-safe casserole (with a lid) over a medium-high heat. Season the venison with lots of salt and pepper. Add the oil to the pan/dish and, once smoking hot, sear the venison, turning regularly, for 5 minutes or until brown all over. Remove and set aside.
2 In the same pan/dish, add the onion, carrot and celery and fry for 5 minutes until beginning to soften. Add the bay leaf, star anise and juniper, pour in the stock and wine, then bring to the boil. Submerge the venison in the liquid, cover with a lid, then transfer to the oven. Cook for 3 hours or until the meat is meltingly tender.
3 Meanwhile bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Peel, deseed and chop the pumpkin into 5cm chunks, then cook it in the water for 10 minutes or until tender – different varieties and sizes of pumpkin will take slightly different times to cook, so keep testing it with a fork after 10 minutes. You want the pumpkin to be soft throughout. Drain and leave to steam dry.
4 Put the butter in a small pan over a low-medium heat with the thyme. Gently cook the butter for 5-8 minutes until it starts to smell nutty and has turned brown (don’t let it burn), then remove from the heat and discard the thyme.
5 Begin mashing the steam-dried pumpkin in the same pan you cooked it in, adding the cream, then the brown butter a little at a time until the mash is nice and smooth. Season with plenty of salt and black pepper, then cover and set as
