05.10.09: Pumpkin Pie and Green Chard

Autumn made yumsome: she's been meaning to try this savoury punkin' recipe, courtesy of Sophie Conran, for nearly a year, and now the time is right.

Pumpkin, sage, feta cheese, parsley and filo dough made for a decadent Sunday eve pie-high, while the punkin' seeds toasted up nicely with salt and pepper for compulsive snacking. Steamed chard from yesterday's market in Richmond snuggled up steamily to its richer plate-mate, while figs, thin slices of baby fennel, and mixed leaves commingled contentedly nearby in anticipation of a balsamic drizzle.


HE SAYS: I likey this pie. I was especially enamored with the crusty topping (you could put filo pastry on top of a smelly sock and I would eat it). I do think though that maybe next time we could try butternut squash (my favourite gourd) instead of fresh pumpkin (nothing like the tinned variety, trust me) which was a little bland for my taste buds however much the cumin tried to raise the taste stakes. I, like Her, peppered it with ample hot sauce and it tasted so goood.

SHE SAYS: Make no mistake, this is not a weekday meal - peeling and preparing the pumpkin is fiddly and takes plently of elbow grease. The result was good, but quite overpowering in the cheese dept. – too rich. Some Crystal hot sauce cut through the heavy savour, though, and I thoroughly enjoyed the crisp sheets of filo on top. Not sure I would make this again, but I'm glad I tried it. (A lighter goat cheese, and less of it, would be more suitable, and perhaps some ras-al-hanout in place of the cumin seeds would brighten up the flavour.) The chard was amazingly sweet, esp the stems, and I added nothing to it, not one bit of anything. Salad was as refreshing as it was meant to be, bringing welcome crunch and aniseed insouciance to the meal.