Meals for Under £10: Pumpkin and Haloumi Tarts

HERE’S a great recipe for leftover Halloween pumpkin or butternut squash.

It’s from our new fave cookbook, Mr & Mrs Wilkinson’s How It Is At Home (Hardie Grant, £25).

We love it as it’s full of great recipes – but also because it recommends cheats, such as using shop-bought pastry.

If you don’t have milk powder – used for creaminess – add an extra egg. Photography: Patricia Niven.

You’ll need:

1 frozen butter puff pastry sheet, thawed and cut into 4 equal-sized squares

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

300g pumpkin or butternut squash flesh

1 onion, diced

½ teaspoon ras el hanout

50g salted butter

2 free-range eggs, plus 1 extra if needed

100ml cream

2 tbsp full-fat milk powder (optional)

80g haloumi, finely diced

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C/gas 4).

Use the puff pastry squares to line four 12cm (4¾ in) pie tins, rolling out to make sure the edges hit the rims of the tins if necessary. Fork the pastry at the bottom, line each case with baking paper, cover with baking beads or rice.

Bake blind for 8–10 mins, remove beads and paper and bake again for 2–4 mins. Remove from oven and cool.

Heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan over low heat. Add pumpkin, onion, ras el hanout and butter, cover with a lid and cook for 15 mins. Remove lid and cook for 10 mins.

Tip cooked pumpkin mixture into a food processor, add eggs, cream and milk powder, and blitz until smooth.

Press the mix through a sieve, then spoon evenly into the four tart cases. Divide the haloumi chunks between the tarts, return to the oven and bake for a further 18–20 mins.

Serve with a little green salad or topped with a fried egg.