pumpkin...stew

Hallowe'en has come and gone. The boys were matching Incredibles this year, thanks to ML's handiwork, and brought in a fine haul of candy. For almost a month now, the front of our home has been decorated with, among other things, a bale of hay, a large and nasty looking fake rat and many pumpkins. Before the snow gets here (probably next week!), I thought we might eat our way through some of the decorations. No amount of stewing would make the hay or the rat palatable, but one of the smaller pumpkins (seeded, peeled and cut in chunks) made a delicious and rather pretty stew with the addition of the following:

• two leeks (mostly white part) and one medium onion, thinly sliced and braised in butter
• red and white kidney beans (the latter had been cooked with sage)
• frozen corn
• salt, pepper, fennel seeds, turmeric and paprika (mostly for colour)
• water to just cover

I brought this to a simmer and left if for about an hour. This is excellent (and totally veg) as is, but some sauteed merguez sausage is a wonderful addition just before serving

(Everything but the pumpkin and the seasoning had been kicking around the upstairs freezer for some time. Yes, I had a surfeit of leeks earlier this fall and already had a lot of soup in the fridge, so leek and potato was not an option at the time. I braised them and froze for later.)