Halloween party

 

We had a little 2-person Halloween party at home yesterday. It was quite cosy with our carved pumpkin lanterns lighting the balcony in the rain. I prepared some seasonal snacks for the evening: pumpkin face cheddar with charcoal crackers, colourful marmelades and orange cream chocolates. I also made spooky pumpkin face quesadillas with chilli-pepper tortillas and an oat rice, chilli, sweetcorn, pepper, carrot, cheese, onion and blue potato filling.

It was a nice evening in enjoying these snacks and I also got the opportunity to use my paper Halloween plates. Do you have any plans for tonight? Happy Halloween everyone!

 

Your VegHog

 

Sweet potato and pumpkin gnocchi

 

It’s almost time for Halloween, so I wanted to share a very seasonal gnocchi recipe with you. I made the orange coloured gnocchi with roasted sweet potato and crown prince squash. The squash can of course be substituted with other squash types or a pumpkin. The gnocchi are also plantbased.

Have you all been eating loads of squashes and pumpkins and are you also excited for Halloween? I have a couple of carved pumpkins on my balcony, so I’m getting pretty much into the mood.

 

Sweet potato and pumpkin gnocchi

Ingredients

1 large sweet potato

¼ crown prince squash

300 g wheat flour

75 g potato flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

Roast the sweet potato as a whole and the squash piece in the oven until done. Mash them and let them cool down. Mix the sweet potato and squash mash with the flours, salt and oil and lightly knead into a firm dough.

Shape gnocchi from the dough and boil them in water until they float on the surface. You can additionally fry them in little butter or oil, if you like. It adds some additional firmness and depth of flavour.

I served the gnocchi with crispy browned sage butter, cheese and side salad. What would you serve it with? And happy Halloween to all!

 

Your VegHog

Loaded pumpkin nachos

 

It’s a great autumn weather today, a bit windy but not rainy. We are planning to go to a local deer park to see of course the deer, but also some vibrant colours in the trees. The park is just by the sea and you can see straight to Sweden from there. Sometimes I receive a “Welcome to Sweden!” sms to my phone when I’m there. It’s nice to pop down to the beach also.

I'm sure that after the walk, I will be very hungry for some comfort food. These loaded pumpkin nachos are just a perfect dish for the Halloween season. I made them with roasted pumpkin and pepper, spicy kidney bean and sweetcorn mix and of course cheese. It was a very nice dish for sharing.

Enjoy your weekend!

Your VegHog

 

Onion soup

 

I made an onion soup with cheesy bread croutons yesterday. It was a great dinner after a day out in the bit chillier autumn weather. I’m very much embracing the soup season right now and was able to get the most beautiful and tasty biodynamic onions from a local farmer. Therefore it was an easy decision to make an onion soup. I made a vegetarian version this time, as I used real butter for frying the onions and cheese on the croutons, but the recipe is also easy to veganise. I made the soup with addition of dry British cider, which added acidity, warmth and depth to the flavour.

Take a look at the easy recipe below, if I got your interest. It is a cheap and basic soup to make. All you need is a little bit of patience.

 

Onion soup

Ingredients

6 onions

2 tbsp butter

1 garlic clove

1 cup dry cider

1 vegetable stock cube

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp miso

2 bay leaves

3 tsp fresh thyme

1l water

 

Croutons

Crusty bread

Olive oil

Salt

Grated Gouda

Fresh thyme

Method

Peel and cut the onions to half rings. Start cooking them at medium temperature in the butter and stir occasionally. Cook them for quite a long time until they are browned and caramelised.

Once the onions are cooked, add the minced garlic and cook it for a few minutes. Deglaze the pan with the cider and then add the seasoning and water. Let simmer until you are happy with the flavour.

While the soup is simmering, make the bread croutons. Cut the bread into cubes and toast them in the oven until crispy. Add the seasoning and the cheese and return to the oven. Bake them until the cheese is melted.

Serve the soup with the croutons and enjoy!

 

Your VegHog

 

Roast potatoes and cauliflower with a cheese fondue sauce

 

The weekend has started sunny, but a bit chilly with a wind from the north. I will be doing the usual weekend potteries, like going to the market, strolling around in town and cooking at length. What are your plans for the weekend?

I’ve made a cheesy fondue style sauce a few times and it goes well with a lot of vegetables. It was nice in this combination with roasted cauliflower and it was also excellent with mushrooms. I think it’s a nice autumnal sauce that can lift a dish. I just first made a basic roux, then added white wine and Emmental cheese and some spicing like onion powder, vegetable stock powder, salt and ground black pepper. It’s easy to make and so tasty.

I served the cauliflower with crispy roast potatoes, steamed tender stem broccoli and tomatoes and cape gooseberries. It was a very good meal.

Have a nice weekend!

Your VegHog

 

Crown prince squash soup

 

The soup season is starting to be upon us here in Europe, and I have indeed made quite a few soups lately. They are so warming and comforting and convenient to make also on busy weekdays.

I had some crown prince squash left (see also my yesterday’s recipe for Spicy pumpkin tacos, if you are after squash and pumpkin recipes for the season), so I decided to use it in this soup. I usually add lentils to this kind of vegetable soups, as they give a lot of body and of course protein to the soup. I also added homegrown chilli for some additional heat. Otherwise the soup is quite basic. Have a look at the easy recipe below.

Crown prince squash soup

Ingredients

¼ crown prince squash

3 carrots

2 shallots

2 garlic cloves

1 red chilli

2 tbsp vegetable oil

½ cup yellow lentils

1 vegetable stock cube

Salt to taste

Ground black pepper to taste

Fresh chives

Method

Peel the crown prince squash and carrots and cut them to cubes or slices.

Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan and cook the shallots, garlic and chilli until they are soft. Then add the carrots and squash to the pan and cook for a while. Rinse the lentils and add them to the mix.

Season with vegetable stock cube, salt and pepper and cover with water. Simmer the soup until the vegetables are soft and then purée it. Taste it, and add any additional seasoning, if needed and enjoy!

 

Your VegHog

 

Spicy pumpkin tacos

 

An autumnal weekend has started. Yesterday it was quite rainy, and it could rain today too, but the morning was sunny. I’m looking forward to an opening of a new vegetable shop today, where we will stop by. Then we will probably attend an event with British beers in one local bar, wearing masks of course.

I bought plenty of pumpkins and squashes already and will get more, so I’ve tried to cook different kinds of dishes with them. These spicy pumpkin tacos are one of them. I didn’t use an actual pumpkin in this recipe, but a beautiful pale green skinned crown prince squash. You can use any squash or pumpkin you have. The tacos are fully vegan, spicy and the contrast with the spicy sauce and sweet roasted squash is nice. I also served some of the quirky finger limes with this dish. If you want to try them, here comes the recipe.

 

Spicy pumpkin tacos

Ingredients

¼ crown prince squash

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion

3 garlic cloves

1 red chilli

230 g butterbeans

4-6 tbsp tomato purée

Smoked paprika to taste

Ground cumin to taste

Ground coriander to taste

Salt to taste

1 tbsp soy sauce

8 tortilla taco wraps

Fresh coriander leaves

Finger limes

 

Method

Peel and chop the crown prince squash into small cubes. Roast the cubes brushed with oil in the oven.

Chop the onion, garlic and chilli and cook them in oil until soft.

Add the butterbeans, tomato purée and seasoning and let cook until the flavours have blended nicely. I like to crush the butterbeans a little bit so that they are smaller.

Heat some tortilla taco wraps and fill them with the butterbean mix and roasted pumpkin. Decorate with fresh coriander leaves and serve with lime. Enjoy!

 

Have a nice weekend!

Your VegHog

In My Kitchen in October

 

I proudly present my new logo to you! It was designed and made by my lovely partner. I think that he captured the essence of the VegHog very well here. What do you think?

Other things in my kitchen in October are a lot of pumpkins and squashes. I will post further squash and pumpkin recipes throughout the month. We have a new local vegetable market and I just love their organic produce. It’s all so clean and flavourful sold directly by the farmers themselves.

I also bought some finger limes for the first time. They look cute, don’t they? They taste pretty much the same as regular limes, but they have a bit different texture inside. It’s like small pearls when you squeeze them.

Apart from that, I’m still getting a little bit of own produce from the balcony, tomatoes, peppers, chilli and cape gooseberries, which are a nice addition to have. Even my sweet peas are still flowering and it’s October!

I got myself a new toaster, as I haven’t owned a toaster for 3+ years since I left the UK. It’s very handy to have one now. And if you remember my wooden box, I got many nice tips from you how to line it so that the oil bottles won't stain it too much. For now I used cling film, as I didn't have any foil, but I think I'll try both. It looks nice there in any case.

I bought another one of these excellent olive oils with the cute label and a salad dressing with orange and rosemary that is so flavourful and handy to have.

Hera are again some dishes that I’ve cooked lately, which didn’t make it to blog posts.

Tomato and bell pepper risotto with fried grill cheese topping

Fresh salad with cashew nuts and cape gooseberries

Golden Thai noodles with tofu and coconut sauce

I’m sharing this post with Sherry from Sherry's Pickings, who is hosting the In My Kitchen event.

 

Your VegHog