As we enter our autumn and everything turns golden and glowing it seems right that we harvest the pumpkins and make a variety of bright and tasty dishes.
The great thing about pumpkin is that even a small one gives you a whole lot of eating for days to come. Once you've roasted some and made a hearty soup what do you do with the rest? Here are four of our favourite pumpkin recipes.
Roast Pumpkin
More of a list of favourite spices to add to roasting pumpkin rather than a recipe.
- Try sprinkling with cinnamon. Add once cooled to a salad with feta, walnuts and a nice simple dressing
- We like roasted pumpkin with Za'atar spice blend. Great served with a fried egg on top
- Use your favorite curry powder. Add to a salad with chickpeas and a yogurt dressing
Pumpkin Hummus
Instead of a whole can of chick peas, make hummus with 50/50 cold pumpkin and chickpeas. Add some tahini, crushed garlic, a slosh of cider vinegar or lemon juice and a swirl of some chilli paste or flakes if you have it. Salt and pepper and whiz it all together in a food processor until smooth. Thin it with water until it gets to the right consistency for spreading on toast.
Pumpkin Scones
This is a delicious way to use up a cup of cold cooked pumpkin and they seem to keep better than 100% flour scones. They're nice toasted a couple of days later.
1 cup cold cooked pumpkin
45 grams butter
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 cups self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
milk or yogurt to mix.
Cream the butter and sugar in a food processor or whisk it in a large bowl then stir in the mashed pumpkin. Add the sifted flour and cinnamon and mix with cutting movements adding yogurt or milk as needed to bind it together.
Press out on a floured tray until 2cm thick and score with a knife into squares. Brush the top with milk and bake in a hot oven for 15 mins (200C).
Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin is a perfect partner for spices this pie is a real winner for an autumn dessert.
The following filling works in a 20cm (8 inch) sweet pastry shell.
Filling Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups cooked pumpkin
half cup of sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
Method:
- Blend all filling ingredients together until smooth - best done in a food processor.
- Pour into the pastry shell
- Bake at 200oC for 40 Minutes or until you insert a knife and it comes out clean
Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream
