When I got my first garden five years ago, I knew what I wanted to grow in it – and that vegetables should have just as big a part as flowers. Baby corn turned the patio into a jungle, spinach grew into unwatched trees beside the paths, and carrots twisted grumpily in their miniature, growth-preventing tubs. Space was always my trouble: too little for my dreams. I knew I should, but I could not resist the curly tendrils of runner beans, the glamour of dressed corn sheaves, the ruby-red strawberry. In they went. Meanwhile roses, sunflowers, tulips and sweet peas proliferated in the gaps – so that my home could smell delicious and look fabulous, all the time.

It’s this susceptibility to pretty things that leads me towards certain vegetables. Every autumn I’ll buy armfuls of winter squashes, their mud-dusted emerald and amber hues brightening the kitchen (and this year, the living room too). This has meant that the squash has come under my culinary scrutiny more often than it might like. When I’d stretched the limits of pumpkin soup (although we can never get enough of the coconut-chilli version) I thought up new ways to get the squashes off the shelf and into the pan. Risotto, curries and tortillas followed… but oh, when you discover roasting, you don’t look back.

Visitors to our house know that they'll get cooked some unusual things. But when I told our guests one night we would be eating pumpkin pasta, they wondered whether to nip home for a snack. Unlike the butternut, pumpkin isn’t trendy, it isn’t gourmet, and most people prefer to bin it than eat it, but this recipe became a firm favourite in my kitchen and theirs. I make it every autumn, and I think that you should, too.

PARMESAN-ROASTED PUMPKIN WITH ROCKET PESTO & TAGLIATELLE
Serves 2
Pumpkin – roasted to the pinnacle of tender, crusty-edged beauty, then turned in fine Parmesan for extra crunch – is the star of this show. The main thing to remember is to move the pieces politely and gently from the tin - don’t throw them straight into the pasta pan and bash them into smithereens. Once you’ve roasted the pumpkin, you’re bound to find new ways with it: perhaps roast it in a slick of chilli oil and serve on a pile of salad leaves. Or roast it in two halves, filling the seed cavity with some sautéed leek and fresh goat’s cheese in the last five minutes. We are just picking the very last of the rocket from the garden - it's bitter as it gets old (hee hee), so pesto is the best thing for it.

800g pumpkin, skinned and chopped
1tbsp olive oil
Black pepper
2tbsp parmesan, finely grated
50g fresh rocket
1tbsp pumpkin seeds
2tbsp olive oil
¼ tsp white wine vinegar
1tbsp grated parmesan
Dried tagliatelle pasta
100g soft, mild goat’s cheese

Spread the pumpkin on a large roasting tray, and sprinkle with olive oil and pepper. Roast at 180°C for around 40 minutes. Remove it from the oven and very carefully toss the pieces in the grated Parmesan, before returning to the oven for another 15 minutes (slide in the dinner plates after 10).

To finish: put the seeds, rocket, vinegar and olive oil in a blender, adding more oil to achieve a drizzlable puree; then stir in the parmesan. Cook the tagliatelle, drain, and toss it with a little pesto in the warm pan. Dish up: top the green pasta with crumbled goat’s cheese, the pumpkin, and a drizzle of rocket puree.

RED WINE & SAUSAGE PENNE

An oven-simmered tomato sauce, enriched with red wine, stirred into fresh penne and sliced sausages - just the thing for an autumnal sort of summer day. Eat with fresh bread.

1 punnet plum tomatoes (about 500g)

1 onion, sliced

1tsp olive oil

175ml red wine (a rich one like Shiraz)

175ml vegetable stock

4 vegetarian sausages - I like Cauldron's Lincolnshire

2 handfuls penne

Parmesan and fresh bread, to serve

Start a few hours before tea, or the night before. In an ovenproof casserole, soften the onion in the oil very slowly, until translucent. Add the tomatoes, crush with a wooden spoon, then add the lid and leave on a low heat for a few more minutes. Finally tip in the wine and stock, bring to a bubble, then replace the lid. Now you can either leave it on the hob on the lowest heat, or put the casserole into the oven at about 120 deg for anything up to two hours. Either way, keep checking: you want to slowly achieve a thick, reduced sauce with onion pieces that melt into the goo.

You can keep this aside now - until ready to eat. At which point, grill the sausages, then slice roughly, and add to the pan, returning it to a gentle heat. Bring another pan of water to the boil and throw in the penne, then cook for 10 minutes. Finally combine the drained pasta with the sauce, stir well, and serve onto warm plates.

Garnish generously with freshly grated parmesan.

PENNE WITH BROAD BEANS AND PESTO

1lb broad beans, podded
1 large bunch basil
1tbsp pine kernels
1tbsp parmesan, finely grated
1tbsp olive oil
Fresh pepper
Penne (enough for two)
1tbsp single cream
Extra parmesan to shave over the top

Put the broad beans into a pan of hot water and bring to the boil. When they reach simmering point, leave for about 20 seconds, then switch off. Tip the beans into a colander over the sink and leave to cool.

Make the pesto: you can use a food processor, but this is how it's traditionally done. (Make sure the basil is really, really fresh and fragrant - if the scent doesn't waft out of the bag, put it to use decorating a different pasta dish*, or shred it into an Italian salad.) Pound half the pine kernels with half the basil in a pestle and mortar, then remove to a plate. Pound the remaining basil and kernels, and put the first batch back into the bowl. Add fresh pepper, a good slug of olive oil, and the finely grated parmesan, and stir until it looks like pesto.

Drop the penne into boiling water and simmer as per packet. While it's cooking, shell the broad beans, pinching off the greyish-green skin, and dropping them into the pesto. As soon as it's just cooked, drain the pasta, and return it to the pan. Stir in the cream, then add the pesto and broad beans, and mix gently. Serve with extra parmesan for those who want it.

*Steve's easy penne is good - roast a punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved. Boil penne and add a splash of balsamic vinegar, a splash of cream, the tomatoes, the shredded basil, and plenty of salt and pepper.

QUICK GNOCCHI GRATIN WITH CHARDONNAY

Sounded fairly unpromising: a packet of Sainsbury's fresh gnocchi, a handful of Jerusalem artichokes, and a leek... but thirty minutes later, this scrumptious English-Italian hybrid was on the table. Served with cold chardonnay and hot garlic bread, it's a sophisticated, lazy-Saturday marvel.

QUICK GNOCCHI GRATIN WITH CHARDONNAY

500g Jerusalem Artichokes, peeled and sliced

2 leeks, washed and sliced

1tsp butter

125ml chardonnay

250ml stock from 1tsp Marigold bouillon

100ml single cream

1 packet fresh gnocchi

2tbsp grated parmesan

Saute the leeks and artichokes in the butter gently for 5 minutes. Add the wine and allow the alcohol to evaporate a little bit, then stir in the stock and let the whole lot simmer for about 15 minutes. Strain the liquid into a bowl, and put the vegetables into a jug.

Return the liquid to the saucepan, bring to a simmer, add the gnocchi, and poach for 2 minutes. Remove the gnocchi straight into an ovenproof baking dish. Continue to simmer the stock until it's halved in volume. The little flour left behind by the gnocchi will make the stock become slightly syrupy.

Add the cream to the saucepan and pour the sauce over the gnocchi in the dish. Sprinkle with grated parmesan, and put under a hot grill until golden.

Serve with garlic bread and/or salad.

LEEK AND BROCCOLI PENNE WITH CRUNCHY TOPPING

1 leek, chopped into large chunks
1 head broccoli, broken into florets
1tsp butter
0.5 pint cheese sauce (either white sauce with cheddar melted into it, or ready-made)
250g fresh penne
Two slices bread, chopped or whizzed to make breadcrumbs
Handful grated parmesan

Saute the leek in the butter over a medium-high heat; add the broccoli florets and stir briefly to soften. Add the cheese sauce and stir on a low heat until it's hot. Meanwhile, cook and drain the penne. Turn penne and vegetables into an oven dish, and stir to combine. Sprinkle with the breadcrumbs and finely-grated parmesan, and put under a hot grill until toasty and bubbling on top. Serve with garlic bread.

ROASTED PUMPKIN WITH TAGLIATELLE AND GOAT'S CHEESE

This deceptively simple recipe is just so delicious, I could eat it all year. Which is just as well, since we still have 4 pumpkins to use up....

Even if you don't think you like pumpkin, or goat's cheese, give it a try; you will be surprised. (Tesco's Welsh Goats Cheese is a good, mild version that isn't remotely offensive.)

FOR TWO
0.5 pumpkin or large squash (or thereabouts - you will probably nibble it from the tray before it goes in the pan, so make extra)
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper
1 handful pine nuts
2tbsp chopped Sage
1 dstsp butter
Tagliatelle
1 log Goat's Cheese (or Brie), crumbled into large pieces

Peel (oh heck), de-seed and cube the pumpkin or squash. Spread on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil,salt and pepper. Roast at about 180 degrees C for around 40 minutes (thereabouts), until browning and scrumptious. (this is where I start picking at it. Yum!) Put dinner plates in the oven, switch it off and close the door.

Take a large pan and boil the pasta briefly - don't overcook -undercooking is better. Put it in a colander and rinse with cold water. Then return the pan to the heat, melt the butter and add the pine nuts and sage. Allow to gently brown, then throw in the pasta and stir to coat and reheat. When all hot, add the cheese and pumpkin and toss gently.

Dish up onto the hot plates and eat..... ooh, bliss.

QUICK COURGETTE PASTA BAKE

Even people who like cooking don't always WANT to cook, you know - specially after a hard day's procrastination. But needs must... I invented this pasta bake last night, wanting something I could throw in the oven and leave while we walked Holly. Which was a far nicer way to spend a warm spring evening.

2 large courgettes, chopped into chunks
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tin tomatoes
Sprinkle balsamic vinegar
Sprinkle sugar
Salt

Ricotta (about half a tub)
1tbsp margarine
1tbsp plain flour
0.5 pint milk
Sprinkle parmesan (optional)

Penne or fusili pasta, cooked in boiling water (about 2 handfuls)

Saute the courgette and onion for 10 mins until golden, then add the garlic, stir briefly, and add the tomatoes, balsamic and sugar. Simmer for a minute and then turn off the heat. Mix with the cooked pasta and put in an ovenproof dish.

Melt the butter in a clean pan and stir in the flour, to make a paste. Stir in a drop of milk until blended, then add the rest of the milk slowly. Bring to a gentle simmer until the sauce has thickened. Whisk in the ricotta and parmesan. Spoon over the courgette/pasta mixture, and sprinkle with extra cheese if you like.

Bake in the oven for about half an hour.