SUMMER // Recipe for four

Sweetened garden pumpkins with frozen sheep’s milk yoghurt

This is a dessert – I love to use vegetables for sweet dishes; I always find them very versatile to work with, especially root vegetables such as the pumpkin. The pumpkin seed mix under the frozen yoghurt and smooth, sweet pumpkin cream creates a surprise of textures.

FROZEN SHEEP’S MILK YOGHURT

200 g (7 oz) cane sugar

300 g (10½ oz) sheep’s milk yoghurt

Dissolve the sugar in 360 ml (12½ fl oz) water and then add the yoghurt. Strain and then put into an ice-cream machine and churn until frozen. If you don’t have an ice-cream machine, pour into a shallow freezer container. Freeze until semi-frozen, then whisk very thoroughly. Freeze and whisk again, twice more.

PUMPKIN CREAM

1 butternut pumpkin

60 g (2¼ oz) cane sugar

1 teaspoon salt

200 ml (7 fl oz) cream

4 g (¹/₈ oz) xanthan gum

50 ml (1³/₄ fl oz) walnut oil

Cut the pumpkin into small pieces and put in a pan with the sugar, salt and 500 ml (17 fl oz) water. Cook over low heat until soft and tender. Remove from the heat and drain, keeping some of the cooking liquid. Purée the pumpkin, using some of the cooking liquid, until the purée is thick and smooth.

Chill, then whisk in the cream, xanthan gum and walnut oil.

PUMPKIN SEED MIX

40 g (1½ oz) walnuts

40 g (1½ oz) buckwheat

40 g (1½ oz) pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

40 g (1½ oz) amaranth

40 g (1½ oz) honey

2 teaspoons salt

Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F). Toast the nuts and seeds in the oven for about 15 minutes until the oils are released. Melt the honey with the salt and fold through the toasted nuts and seeds. Leave to cool before serving.

TO FINISH THE PLATE

Burnt pumpkin seeds