Belinda's Blog

Belinda, mother of three, lives in Fulham, London and loves to entertain. Tune in for her easy to cook, no nonsense recipes. Starters, mains, puddings and nibbles - she's here with suggestions for them all.

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Pumpkin Gratin

Published on Thursday 16th October 2008

Serves 6
Prep Time - 10 minutes
Cooking Time - approx 45 minutes

Turn your Halloween pumpkin into this hearty and delicious autumnal dish.

Ingredients

• 675g pumpkin – peeled, deseeded and cut into bite-sized chunks
• 1 ped onion – thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves – crushed

For The Sauce:

• 50g butter
• 3 tbsp plain flour
• 450ml milk
• 150ml double cream
• 40g parmesan cheese
• pinch cayenne pepper
• freshly ground salt and black pepper

For the Topping:

• 25g pine nuts – toasted and finely chopped
• 15g breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 220C (gas mark 7).

Place the pumpkin in an ovenproof dish and sprinkle the onions over the top. Add the garlic, herbs and oil and make sure everything is well coated. Bake for approx half an hour until the pumpkin is soft and tinged with brown.

Meanwhile make the sauce by melting the butter in a pan and adding the flour. Cook for a couple of minutes and then take off the heat. Gradually add the milk and cream to make a smooth sauce. Return to the heat and boil until it thickens.

Then lower the heat and simmer for a couple of minutes. Take this off the heat and add half of the cheese, the cayenne pepper and salt and pepper to taste.

Remove the pumpkin from the oven and pour the sauce over the top. Combine the pine nuts, breadcrumbs and remaining cheese and sprinkle this over the top.

Lower the heat of the oven to 200C (gas mark 6) and return the dish to the oven for about 15 minutes until it is golden and bubbling.

Serve alone or as a tasty accompaniment to grilled or roasted meat or poultry.

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