Pumpkin Risotto

This was a quick and tasty meal I made using some leftover pumpkin. I mostly followed a recipe I found from Ramsay here: pumpkin risotto.

Heston's Bolognese and Italian Week!

Heston Blumenthal's Bolognese Recipe

Italian week started off with a bang! Dave slaved over the oven for hours as he patiently and lovingly coxed every last ounce of flavor from the myriad ingredients that went into this dish. And the result? Perfection, absolute perfection! Hands down the best bolognese I've ever had the pleasure of scarfing down. 

These are just a small sampling of the multitude of steps this recipe required. I got the better end of the deal as I got to eat it but not go through the trouble of cooking it.



Two kinds of meat were featured to enhance the umami flavor of the bolognese. We purchased a massive pork shoulder that Dave deftly butchered and sauteed along with the beef mince. I can't sing the praises highly enough of buying meat in bulk. During a good sale you can get a ton of good beef or pork for a fraction of the cost of the pre-cut stuff. The extra work is totally worth it. Plus I got to save the skin and fat to make cracklings! It's win-win! 

Our ingenuity was tested when it came time to purchase muslin to make the bouquet garni. We couldn't find it anywhere. We were disheartened until we spotted the metal tea strainer you see in the onions above. Problem solved!

The best part of this meal is that it keeps remarkably well and can be scaled up so easily. Dave made a batch to last the whole week and we had a delicious meal every night.