A royal vegetarian supper '“ Lawrence Murphy

This hearty wintery dish utilises some of the wonderful vegetables that are abundant at this time of year and makes for a warming vegetarian supper. 

The crown prince pumpkin has a silvery grey green exterior which holds bright orange flesh which is prized by chefs for its sweet, nutty flavour.

Try to choose a pumpkin that's not too big as the smaller ones have a sweeter flavour. Simply roasted with some thyme and feta cheese it make a great lunch with a crisp green salad.

Silver skin onions are usually pickled as they have a strong flavour but in this recipe they are roasted with the pumpkin and then fried with cubed potatoes and sage.

I add chestnuts and combine everything together before spooning over a chestnut sauce. It has the lovely colours of autumn and will warm you up on a winter's day.

Ingredients  

Chestnut sauce

1 onion finely chopped

1 small leek finely chopped

150ml white wine

150g chestnuts

200ml cream

1 small crown prince pumpkin Peeled and cut into wedges

12 silver skin onions peeled and cut in half

120g chestnuts chopped

400g cubed potato

40 leaves of sage

Method

1. Make the sauce first by cooking the onion and leek in butter in a large saucepan on a medium heat for 4 minutes.

2. Add the wine and reduce by a third.

3. Add the cream and chestnuts and bring to the boil -simmer for 2 minutes and the liquidise.

4. Pass the sauce through a fine sieve and season to taste '“ keep warm.

5. Whilst you are making the sauce put the crown prince and silver skin onions on to a baking tray, sprinkle on two tablespoons of water, a pinch of salt and a splash of olive oil.Cover with parchment paper and put in a hot oven 220c gas 8 for 10 minutes '“ then turn the pumpkin over and bake for another 10 minutes.

6. While the pumpkin is cooking put the potato into cold water and bring to the boil simmer for 1 minute and then drain into a colander to steam dry.

7. Now you can fry the potatoes in a little olive oil and butter to brown all over add the silver skin onions to the potatoes to colour.

9. Add the chopped chestnuts to the pan and cook for another minute before adding the sage.

10. Mix in the cooked pumpkin and then arrange into 4 bowls.

11. heat the sauce and pour over the vegetables in each bowl.