pumpkin soup.

I love pumpkin soup! I have always loved it as a kid, however, as I grew up I noticed canned soups made me feel sick and just didn't taste right, and let's not even go near powdered sachet soups! So I decided to start making my own, this way I could control the flavours and knew the ingredients I used were the real deal and not fake, powered, imitation flavours of pumpkin.

This recipe is perfect for winter, but my wisdom teeth don't like to follow the weather when it comes to growing time and therefore rendering me unable to eat.

This recipes makes a generous serving...I drink a lot of soup so I can't tell you exactly how many "regular" servings it gives BUT I can tell you it has 1L of stock....

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 whole butternut pumpkin
• 3 medium (handful) sized potatoes
• 1 medium sized brown onion
• 1L chicken stock
• Drizzle of oil
• Salt & pepper to flavour

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 180˚C
2. Chop pumpkin and potatoes in small chunks
3. Roast pumpkin and potatoes with salt, pepper and a drizzle of oil - I love pepper so I cover it generously
4. Roast for approximately 30mins
5. Sautee onions until soft
6. Throw in pumpkin and potatoes into pan along with chicken stock
7. Simmer for approximately 15mins
8. Puree ingredients and VOILA! You have pumpkin soup! Have it on its own, or with a little bit of bread!

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il goloso, haberfield.

I love Italian food. I grew up going to Leichhardt's Italian forum for all occasions with my family. For those who don't know, Haberfield and Leichhardt are the Italian food central of Sydney. My mother decided to take us out to lunch to Il Goloso in Haberfield to have a pre-Christmas lunch before we jetted off to China late last year.

The food were served in decently large portions and there was just SO much food I couldn't even finish my meal, the gnocchi! The antipasto was too oily for my liking, but the garlic prawns were spectacular! My gnocchi was delicious, the gnocchi itself was gorgeously fluffy. My mum, dad and brother's meals (respectively) were also all very delicious! If I had any qualms it was that the prices were quite dear, not something I could've afforded on my own.

Find them:
60 Dalhousie St
Haberfield, NSW

Garlic Bread, $3

Vegetable Antipasto, $15

Garlic Prawns, $18

Linguine Prawns & Asparagus, $22

Spaghetti Marinara, $22

Fettuccine Terramere, $22

Homemade Potato Gnocci with Sorentina Sauce, $22

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potato bake.

One of my winter favourites as a side is potato bake. It's a hearty dish that just warms up the soul. I was a bit hesitant in cooking this recently as I'm dating an Irish guy and didn't know whether this would meet his families standards (I always thought the whole Irish and potato thing was a joke...it's not...my boyfriend's dad even showed me how to peel potatoes properly...). Alas, I overcame my anxiety and made it with it being polished off almost immediately. That's got to be a good sign, right?

This recipe makes a pretty big dish, approximately 8 servings.

INGREDIENTS:

• 5 large cream delight potatoes - I like to use these as the skin is white and clean you can keep them on
• 1 small or medium brown onion - depends on how much you like onions...I quite like them so I tend to put more
• 300ml thickened cream
• 50ml milk
• 1 bulb of garlic
• 250g shredded cheese
• Salt & Pepper

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 180˚C
2. Cut potato into thin slices, slice onion and dice garlic
3. Mix thickened cream, milk and garlic together
4. Layer potato to cover base of tray
5. Layer a handful of onion over the potatoes
6. Lightly cover potato with garlic cream mixture
7. Crack some salt and pepper over the top before sprinkling a little cheese
8. Repeat until dish is covered, ensuring the top layer is thoroughly covered in cheese
9. Bake for approximately 45mins or until cheese is golden - I slightly overcooked my tray...
10. VOILA! The perfect hearty winter side dish!

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