Lantern making means that there’s a lot of spare pumpkin flying about ahead of Halloween. Don’t waste its sweet goodness; keep the pulp and seeds to create delicious treats. Smaller, eating pumpkins will taste better, but the flesh of lantern-making veggies works too.
Make a Purée
Cut the pumpkin flesh into evenly sized cubes, and either steam for ten minutes or, for a deeper flavour, roast in the oven for 40-60 minutes. When the cubes are soft, use a fork or electric blender to mash and leave to cool. The sweet mush makes a great stand-alone lunch for tiny babies (make a big batch and freeze it in ice-cube trays), or use it as the basis for more exciting recipes.
Pumpkin Spice
Mix together four teaspoons ground cinnamon, one teaspoon ground cloves, 2 teaspoons of ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg. Store in an airtight container.
Pumpkin Latte
Heat two mugfuls of your choice of milk, two tablespoons of pumpkin purée – or more if you like it pumpkin-heavy – and sugar or honey to taste in a pan until hot but not boiling. Remove from heat, and whisk in a teaspoon of vanilla extract, one teaspoon pumpkin spice mix. Pour into two mugs and top with whipped cream and sprinkle of the spices.
Super-easy Pumpkin Ice Cream
Mix 250g of puree with 75g brown sugar, and a teaspoon of pumpkin spice. Soften 1 litre of vanilla ice cream, and fold in the other ingredients.
Don’t waste the sweet goodness; keep your pumpkin pulp and seeds to create delicious treats
Roasted Seeds
Don’t forget to roast your pumpkin seeds for a tasty snack. Wash and dry the seeds thoroughly, toss in olive or coconut oil, and whatever seasoning you fancy from salt, black pepper, curry powder, turmeric and garlic powder, then roast in the oven for 15 minutes.
Whipped Pumpkin Ricotta
Whizz 250g ricotta cheese, 70g pumpkin purée, a pinch each of sea salt, cinnamon and lemon zest in a medium-high blender for two minutes. Top with black pepper, olive oil or pine nuts. Serve with crackers, crudités or apple slices.
Pumpkin Hummus
Put 500g pumpkin purée, two roasted garlic cloves, the juice of half a lemon, two tablespoons of tahini paste and 400g of canned chickpeas into an electric blender. Blend until smooth. Season, and add extra virgin olive oil until it’s your preferred consistency.
