Anyone know any good pumpkin recipes?

[WigWamBam]

I, stupidly, gave in to my daughter's pleas for a pumpkin this morning. She wants me to make pumpkin soup (she's read the book!), but I don't have any recipes for it. And it's rather a large pumpkin, so I think I'll have to try and find some other recipes as well, otherwise we'll be eating pumpkin soup for a month! Bearing in mind that I want to try and make the shell into a jack o' lantern, does anyone have any recipes that I can use the flesh in?

if you google on recipes for pumpkin soup loads come up.

Have a look at Delia Online .

I want to try her pumpkin pie.

I made cream of pumpkin soup from my Cranks recipe book and frankly it tasted of absolutely nothing, but I think that was the fault of a tasteless pumpkin, rather than the recipe!

You can also try roasting pumpkin to serve as a side-dish. Or using it with mashed potatoes.

roast chunks of the flesh with olive oil(i just left the skin on, it's easier to scoop out once it's been cooked but that does rather rule out using the pumpkin as a lantern..), fry onion & garlic, plop in the softened pumpkin, simmer for a while with some stock and a smidge of curry powder until the onions are v soft. whizz with hand blender and add a dash of cream/yoghurt when serving. i'd imagine it freezes ok.

I've just 'got' into pumpkins and have been making pumpkin soup often.

1 x pumpkin, chopped, seeded and 'de-skinned'
1 x onion
1 x veg stock cube
1 x pint water

Chuck it all in a pan and boil for 45 mins, then liquidise. easy peasy.

I enquired with someone else today about making something with the 'innards' of a pumpkin that would be used as a lantern. The problem is the flesh of a pumpkin is really hard to cut out, unless you cut the whole thing into quarters. So trying cut the flesh out as a whole pumpkin is probably not possible.

Can verify that scooping out pumpkin innards is jolly hard work! I ended up using a grapefruit spoon with serrated edges and scooping crazily.

Managed to do the whole thing - so imagine my reaction when dp got my lovely pumkin lantern lid and chopped it into 10 pieces to "put it in the compost", then remarking "we didn't need this did we"?!

Anyway - definitely go for recipes where the pumpkin is going to be mashed or liquidised.

Pidge, I'd better not show that recipe for Pumpkin Pie to my dh, he'd eat the lot all in one go!

Thanks for the suggestions, all of you - looks like I'd better go and buy another pumpkin to make a lantern with!

top tip... buy crown prince squash, if you can get hold if it (it can be got from good farms if not your local greengrocer) looks like a big blue/grey pumpkin. Denser, less stringy, tastier version of pumpkin - tastes much nicer.

If using ordinary pumpkin - add carrots and potatoes to the mix to add more flavour and texture. Milk and nutmeg also work well in the finished soup!

That delia pumpkin pie looks ridiculously difficult to make. American pumpkin pie is totally simple. And I've never heard of anyone ever eating it with ice cream! Ew! Plain or with whipped cream only!

It smells so yucky - I have to admit I just chuck mine away (I only buy little pumpkins though - so not too wasteful!)

When I say I've made soup the family normally run for cover. BUT - I made a pumpkin soup yesterday that had them begging for more

Boil up pumpkin flesh and chopped onion in salted water until mushy and soft.

Add knob of butter

Add some single cream

Add pepper and pinch of ground ginger, pinch of ground cloves, pinch of ground nutmeg and pinch of mixed spice

Add some dark brown sugar to taste

Just bung it all in and keep cooking slowly and stirring occasionally until very soft and delicious, then put in blender.

Really yummy and beats my turkey bone broth that's for sure

Thanks all - you're right, Goosey, it was delicious!