Mushroom and squash spelt risotto

I served this earthy mushroom and squash spelt risotto to our guests, after they arrived after a long train journey last weekend. I think it was quite well received, and hit the spot just fine. The beauty of these kinds of risottos is that they almost get better when reheated, so you can prepare them in advance only to be reheated quickly. This is also a very handy dish to make for several people as a one-pot. It can always be extended with bread and salad on the side.

I'm not going to publish this particular recipe here, as I've made similar dishes so many times before, and the pattern is pretty much the same. I used onion squash and brown closed cup mushrooms in this one, and roasted the squash. You can use pumpkin or other squashes in this recipe, different mushrooms, replace the mushrooms etc. It's all good. The main thing is that it's warming and comforting and uses seasonal produce. Add some cheese, if you like, or make a vegan version. You can also use pearled barley, even though I normally prefer spelt. Traditional arborio rice is also very nice in such autumnal risottos.

I just can't get enough of these autumn flavours, and have a few squashes lined up for further recipes. So I'm sorry, if you're not fond of squash, there will still be a lot of it on this blog.

Here are some of my similar previous recipes:

Porcini spelt risotto 

Crown prince squash spelt risotto 

Pattypan squash spelt risotto 

Harlequin squash risotto 

Wild mushroom and crown prince squash spelt risotto 

Harlequin squash spelt risotto with halloumi 

Yes, I rest my case. I seem to have made a similar dish once or twice before. Do you like autumnal risottos and what are your favourite ingredients for them?

Your VegHog

Eat Your Greens welcoming November recipes

We are now welcoming recipes for the last round of Eat Your Greens in 2017! It's unbelievable, but true. We will have a Christmas break in December, so it would be nice, if as many of you as possible would take part this month. You can already make Christmas themed green food, if you feel like it, or just a regular vegetarian or vegan recipe with greens. I would quite like to see autumnal comfort food with seasonal vegetables, but the choice is yours what the dish will be like.

For inspiration, have a look at the October entries in Shaheen's round up. Here you can read more details about how to take part, but basically just post a vegan or vegetarian dish on your blog that contains green vegetables, and share the link in the comment box below. Then your post will be featured in the round up at the end of the month.

I very much look forward to receiving many nice recipes. Let's get cooking!

Your VegHog

Halloween in Tivoli Gardens

Tivoli is a world renowned amusement park right at the centre of Copenhagen. We went to the gardens this weekend when my brother was visiting us with his family. I hadn't been there before, but now it was nice to go, when there was actually a child with us. I took some non-scary rides with my nephew and we had great fun.

The whole Tivoli area has now been decorated in such a wonderful way for the Halloween season. There are pumpkins and spooky characters everywhere. The day was bitterly cold and windy when we were there, but seeing the lights and nice decorations warmed my heart at least a little bit.

There was also a largest pumpkin competition, which was won by this very proud 485,4 kg pumpkin, amazing! I don't know how they transported these vegetables there!

Here are some photos I took that day, I hope you enjoy. And happy Halloween everyone!

Onion squash macaroni cheese

This is a very seasonal dish that would be quite nice to serve at a Halloween party. It's a macaroni cheese without milk, featuring roasted onion squash mash with the macaroni. However it's not fully vegan, as I still used regular cheese in it. I'm just constantly in lookout for alternative non-milky mac'n'cheese ideas, as my partner doesn't like them. I love that sort of creamy mac'n'cheeses as well, but now have to be more creative. The squash prevented the cheese from splitting with the rest of the sauce, so this was quite an successful version.

I enjoyed this version of mac'n'cheese very much, and will probably make it soon again in this spooky and dark season. Have you made any seasonal Halloween dishes or baking? Or do you have any tips for substitutes for milk or cream in a macaroni cheese bake?

Onion squash macaroni cheese

Ingredients

½ onion squash

Olive oil

200 g macaroni

2 onions

2 garlic cloves

2 tbsp potato flour

1 cup vegetable stock

200 g cheese

Sprinkle of salt

Sprinkle of ground black pepper

Sprinkle of smoked paprika

½ cup breadcrumbs

Method

Peel and cut the squash into wedges. Brush them with oil and roast in the oven until done. Mash the roasted squash pieces.

Cook the macaroni in water until it's al dente.

Chop onions and garlic finely and sautée them in a pan in olive oil until soft. Add the potato flour and vegetable stock and stir until smooth.

Then slowly add the mashed squash and 2/3 of the cheese. Keep mixing so that the mixture gets smooth and doesn't split.

Season to taste and mix with the cooked macaroni. Put the mix into an oven dish, add the rest of the cheese on the top with the breadcrumbs, and bake at 180 C for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Spaghetti squash jalfrezi

Spaghetti squash is a brilliant ingredient for may types of dishes. You can just easily roast it, and then scoop out the flesh that comes out in spaghetti like thin strings. This time I wanted to combine the mild and sweet vegetable with a spicy curry in the style of a jalfrezi. It turned out really nice. I added some of my Finnish dried broad bean crush as an extra protein in order to make a really wholesome dish.

I donated my mortar and pestle before the move (or actually they belonged to my partner), so I decided to buy a ready made garam masala. But that was a great decision, as I then detected a lovely spice shop in the nearby covered market, and their garam masala was really brilliant. I'm not sure, if I'll buy new mortar and pestle anytime soon. The shop has a very good selection of spices and they are good value for money. I will be returning, especially for some Christmas spices soon.

So if you fancy a bit of a squash curry, read my easy recipe here.

Spaghetti squash jalfrezi

Ingredients

1 spaghetti squash

3 tbsp vegetable oil

2 onions

4 garlic cloves

2 cm fresh ginger

2 chillies

2 tbsp garam masala

2 tsp turmeric

1 can coconut milk

200 g tomatoes

4 tbsp tomato purée

1 cup dried broad bean crush

Fresh coriander

1 cup mixed rice

Method

Cut the spaghetti squash in half and brush it with vegetable oil. Roast in the oven until tender and the flesh can be easily removed with a fork.

Chop the onions, garlic, ginger and chilli finely. First sautée the onions in vegetable oil in a pan, and then add the garlic, ginger and chillies as well, followed by the tomatoes.

Cook for a while and then add the spices. Heat the spices through and pour the coconut milk to the pan.

Also add the tomato purée and broad bean crush.

Let simmer until everything is cooked nicely and the flavours have blended.

Add the roasted spaghetti squash flesh and cook for a while longer.

Serve with rice and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Visiting the Royal Kitchen

On Friday last week there was a culture night here in Copenhagen, and all sorts of places opened their doors for visitors. We spent all Friday night exploring places around Copenhagen. The event was open until midnight, and the town was full of people.

There were light shows all over town, live music, all kinds of entertainment and family fun getting acquainted with different cultural places, some of which only opened their doors especially for this event. Even the army had arrived with their tanks and their guns. The national railway had a really nice display in a conference centre presenting their new projects. We got free pop corn from them, which was a plus, and they would've also had free coffee and hot chocolate.

The Royal Library was lit in an amazing fashion and was buzzing of people. The nearby museum showed a historical battle between Danes and Swedes projected on a big building's wall. Here we stopped for a tomato soup to keep us going.

I had a long list of places to see, and we actually managed quite a few of them. One place that I wanted to visit, was the Royal Kitchen at Christiansborg Palace.

I really like copperware and this kitchen boasts a huge copperware collection, so it was nice to see all those pots and pans. The kitchen itself is a cosy cellar full of old cookware. I wouldn't mind cooking in such a great kitchen myself.

I can't wait for the culture night to come around again next year!

Apple pie

A dream came true: I could cool down an apple pie on a window sill! Or wait a minute, is that actually a dream of mine, or just the American dream? Well anyway, it was a nice feeling, and it was very nice to bake for a change. How could I resist the lovely apple season.

Otherwise I've been quite busy at work, so the days have just flown by. I had autumn break from my Danish classes this week and now have to study for my first exam, so exciting! It's going pretty well, but people are still very hard to understand sometimes. Of course that's normal for language learning, but I don't have any patience and already want to be fluent.

So for this pie, I used Paul Hollywood's muffin recipe as the dough base, as that always seems to work in different combinations. You can find the recipe here. It's best left in the fridge overnight to develop, which makes the baking bit also much easier the next day, as you then have the dough ready.

Then I just added apple slices and cinnamon on the top of the dough and baked the pie. It was a lovely apple pie and it disappeared in no time. It's a nice change to get freshly baked goods at home.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Your VegHog