Rose Harvie of Peardrop London shares her frightfully delicious recipe for Halloween entertaining of goats curd with shaved pumpkin, plum and walnut crumble.
This is a lovely light starter to serve at a dinner party at this time of year. I do recommend you find the right plate/bowl to serve it in as it doesn’t have the same impact on a patterned plate. Ideally you’ll have a small plain “coupe bowl”, or a plain white plate.
You will also need a super sharp knife or mandolin to cut the squash and pumpkin.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 4
30g walnuts
30g pumpkin seeds (you can use the seeds from the pumpkin you use, they just need a bit of rinse)
60g plain flour
75g unsalted butter
1 sprig rosemary, finely chopped
½ tsp Fennel seeds
600g pumpkin or squash (roughly 1 small butternut squash) (delicata squash is a lovely one if you can find it, butternut works well also).
200g plum (3 or 4 plums) (I love greengages but their season is quite short)
1 lemon, juiced and zested
1 tsp sugar
500g goats curd (you’ll probably need to go to a good cheese shop to find it. If you can’t find it, whip soft goats cheese in the food processor with ricotta)
Herbs / leaves to garnish- (Lemon verbena is great if you have it growing - or mint. Or you can use rocket leaves, watercress or peashoot leaves from bags of mixed salad.)
Salt & Pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
METHOD
Start with the walnut crumble. Turn the oven to 180c. Chop the walnuts (keep them a little chunky). Weigh the flour into a bowl, season with salt and pepper, add the fennel seeds and the chopped rosemary. Cut the butter into cubes and rub in between your finger and thumb until you have a chunky crumble. Stir in the walnuts and seeds. Bake on a lined tray for 20 mins until lightly golden. Leave until cool and hardened, when you should break up into a crumble with your fingers.
Prep the pumpkin & plum. With your mandolin or sharp knife, cut the pumpkin or squash into very thin slices and blanch in a pan of boiling water for two minutes. Then refresh with cold water to stop it cooking. You want to make sure the pumpkin is just soft enough to curl and bend without breaking. I find it easier to cut off the skin after you’ve cooked it, but you can peel it before you slice if you prefer. Slice the plums thinly on the mandolin. Marinate the plums and pumpkin in lemon juice, zest, a good glug of extra virgin olive oil, sugar, salt & pepper. Add a dash of apple cider vinegar if you like it sharp. Make sure they are all well coated and dressed.
To plate up, start with the goats curd. Take two identical dessert spoons and dip them in a cup of boiling hot water. Then “quenelle” or spoon two dollops of the curd in the centre of the plate, one facing upwards to 10 o’clock and the other facing down to 7 o’clock. Then arrange your sliced pumpkin around the curd in pretty curls. If you roll up the slices, they can sit in cones propped up against the mounds of cheese. Then arrange the plum at different angles and directions. Finish with sprinkling the cooled crumbled over, more extra virgin olive oil around the plate and sprigs of herbs. Serve with warm bread and butter.
October, 2024
