Giant uncarved pumpkin

[FruitBasedDrinkForALady]

So DH had an episode of premature pumpkin carving and it died a death 3 days before Halloween. Swept away on a tide of carving success, he went out and bought giant one to replace it, and, in a shocking turn of events, it has not been bothered by a carving knife. So now I need to find something to do with it. I've cooked butternut squash before, but never an actual pumpkin. Any suggestions how to begin to consume the beast?

Generally with pumpkin you use it exactly like any squash. Scoop out the seeds and pulp, and cook and eat the rind. I like it roasted with some olive oil and cinnamon. I will warn you though that giant pumpkins are bred for size and looks and the small pumpkins (closer to butternut squash size) are for cooking. I've never cooked a giant pumpkin but I think they're blander and the texture isn't as nice. If I were you and had a big pumpkin to use I would still try it because otherwise it's just a waste.

Soup. We've got a pumpkin which is 3ft across and I think we're going to be having pumpkin soup for months.

Pumpkin Pie! Lots of recipes online. Or make a purée by roasting then blending and add to macaroni cheese - it's amazing.

Oh, I like the idea of adding it to mac and cheese. I've never had pumpkin pie, I'll look at some recipes. Think I might cook and freeze it to bulk out mince dishes, etc. I don't think I can face that much soup!

Pumpkin lasts forever btw. Dh grows them and honestly we harvest in OCt and often still have one or two left in feb. left in a cold place they are fine.

For eating I usually scoop out the seeds and cut into thirds- wrap the thirds in cling film and store in fridge. With my first third i'd cube ( we don't eat the skin) and make a pumpkin laksa( with chicken if I have leftover from roast)

With my second third I'd roast into pumpkin wedges to have with burgers

With my third third I'd cut into cubes and roast with chilli and garlic, to serve with red onions, coriander and flatbreads.

There's also soups- there's not just one type of pumpkin soup- a Thai pumpkin soup is a lovely alternative to normal

Roast it in cubes for pumpkin and sage rissoto

Pumpkin cubes are lovely in a fish chowder instead of potato

Sliced In a lasagne with red peppers and goats cheese

Nigellas Christmas book has a rice stuffed pumpkin recipe that I've always wanted to try- I'm sure it's on her website

All of those sound delicious pregnant!

I had pumpkin soup on Halloween at a restaurant and it was unutterably gorgeous I'd love to know what they put in it.

I usually make mine with garlic, ginger and coriander and it tastes good but their soup was off the chart!

I bought 2 , fairly small, pumpkins for £1 each from Lidl. DD2 had fun carving hers, DD1 couldn't be bothered - so I shall be making pumpkin soup with that one. It's scrummy.

This is a brilliant recipe
www.antonio-carluccio.com/Risotto_di_Zucca

and they keep really well- chop off a bit, wrap the rest in cling film and put it somewhere dark and cool- but don't forget about it. I kept one for 3 weeks, hacking bits of every now and then :)

Last night we had this recipe www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/12805/roast-pumpkin-with-cream-thyme-and-parmesan with friends.
It was gorgeous - we used a larger pumpkin than this as we are using ones we've grown so we multiplied up the ingredients. Everyone thought it was really nice & had seconds and it looked very impressive on the table.