Pumpkin lasagne

Last week I had lunch at Kiasma and they had a wonderful pumpkin lasagne, leaving both me and my lunch companion yearning for more. After some browsing online, I picked this recipe, minus the proscuitto. It took a while to make (about 2.5-3 hours from start to finish) because of all the oven roasting. You can cut a lot of the time by not making your own white sauce, though. Unlike the one at Kiasma, this one was super cheesy, filled with pecorino and taleggio (and yes, that thick white layer in the middle of the photo is indeed the taleggio). In fact this is probably the most cheesy lasagne I've ever eaten. It was delicious, but I'm not sure whether it beats the Kiasma version. I garnished my portion with thyme sprigs, which accentuated the sweetness of the pumpkin nicely.

Plenty: The ultimate winter couscous

Ultimate suggests maximality, fundamentality, extremity, the utmost of a given something. So to claim something is the ultimate this or that is no light assertion. Ottolenghi delivers again, though. This is the ultimate winter couscous if there ever was one. Carrots, parsnips, pumpkin, chickpeas, dried apricots and shallots are roasted in the oven with lots of heavenly spices (including cinnamon sticks and star anise) and olive oil. Harissa and preserved lemon peel are added later. The couscous is perhaps the most precious yet, laced with saffron. The richness of flavours is astounding. I'll be making this again on a cold night this winter. Thanks goes out again to my darling neighbours, for the pumpkin.

Plenty project: Crusted pumpkin wedges with soured cream

A busy week coupled with a sprained ankle limiting by ability to tour food shops has kept my cooking quite tame this past week. This weekend I did however try a new recipe from Plenty. Because it's the season for them, I did a pumpkin recipe before it's too late. A pumpkin is sliced into thin wedges, then topped with olive oil and a thick coat composed of a mix of parmesan, white bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, thyme, lemon zest and salt, then tossed into the oven for a half an hour. Served with soured cream, mixed with dill, salt and pepper. I have to admit that this has been my least favourite Plenty food. I've spoiled myself rotten, to be honest, since this was very tasty, but didn't incite the same overwhelming feelings of gluttony as the others I've tried. Maybe it was the soured cream? I think it was a little unnecessary, a little too rich. I tried some of the lefovers later and the pumpkin wedges, in my opinion, tasted much better at room temperature than warm out of the oven. Anyway, thank you Yotam for a lovely autumn dinner.

NEXT DAY UPDATE: I had the leftovers for dinner tonight. Oh. my. god. They were heavenly. I take back all the doubts expressed above. I am so making these again before pumpkin season ends!