'Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday. I cook a big meal at home in London for about 36 people. We start Italian-style with a pumpkin and mascarpone soup; pumpkin and squash are the ingredients that feature heavily in Thanksgiving dinners. We always have something traditional for the main, usually with turkey. Last year I did roast grouse, partridge and pheasant. HG Walter in Baron's Court (hgwalter.com) is where I buy all my game. It's organic and great quality (they supply the River Café too). It's important to me that the fruit and vegetables I use are seasonal so I'll buy them from Pimlico Road farmers' market (lfm.org.uk). Guests often bring me dessert. Jeremy King from the Wolseley always brings me a pumpkin pie; others bring pecan pie and chocolates. It's a great feast. I make a New York cheesecake and put together a big cheeseboard. La Fromagerie (lafromagerie.co.uk) has the best selection of Italian cheese, and no one beats Sally Clarke's bakery for fresh bread to serve alongside it.'
Ruth's Pumpkin and Mascarpone Soup
'Pumpkins taste better when really ripe; the flesh should be close-textured and deep orange, the seeds plump. Peanut squash or butternut squash can be used instead, and tinned tomatoes, drained of excess juice, can replace the fresh tomatoes.'
800g pumpkin
3 medium potatoes
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp fennel seeds
250g plum tomatoes
2 stock cubes
50g Parmesan
150g mascarpone
Extra-virgin olive oil
Peel and deseed the pumpkin; cut into 2cm cubes. Peel the potatoes; cut into 2cm cubes. Peel the garlic. Grind the fennel seeds. Make a slit in the side of each tomato, put in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for ½ minute, then remove and place into cold water. Peel as soon as they are cool enough to touch.
Dissolve the stock cubes in 500ml boiling water. Grate the Parmesan.
Put the potato, tomato, pumpkin and garlic cloves into a saucepan and just cover with the stock. Season, then add the fennel seeds. Simmer for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
Mash the soup with a potato masher — it should be thick and creamy.
Serve with spoonfuls of mascarpone, olive oil and Parmesan.
Extracted from River Café Two Easy (£20, Ebury Press), rivercafe.co.uk
Interview: Ianthe Butt
