pumpkin

Roasted pumpkin seeds

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We have had so many pumpkins in the garden this year. They have trailed themselves across paths, down walls (with the pumpkins hanging on for dear life) and jostled for space with the other veg (they have won, hands down). We have grown pumpkins for several years, but I have always  scooped the seeds out and chucked them into the chicken pot*.  What was I thinking? Roasted pumpkin seeds are delicious. The transformation is startling. If you are tempted to try a seed part of the way through cooking, when you think they might be done, you will be bitterly disappointed and think that I have gone mad telling you to make these. But if you wait until they caramelise then you will understand. Something happens in their chemistry that makes you think you added crushed chilli when you weren’t concentrating properly. Be warned, these little bites are addictive and you will find yourself cooking with pumpkin just so you can eat the roasted seeds.

This weekend, when every one will be scooping out their Halloween pumpkins, is the perfect time to enjoy these. By the way, when did we move on from scooping out swedes?

I don’t bother washing the seeds as I think bits of pumpkin flesh hanging on to them add a lot to their flavour. I scrape them out, remove most of the flesh, lay onto a lightly oiled baking tray so that they are in a single layer and sprinkle with a little more oil and sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Place into a preheated oven at 140°c, gas mark 1 or the simmering oven of the Aga and cook for about 30-40 minutes. Keep an eye on them as the ones at the edge of the tray may start to burn and will need stirring into the middle. When they have a good caramel brown colour all over they are ready. Leave to cool a little and then dig in.

*I probably should explain that we have a pot that sits by the side of our sink and any veg scraps get thrown into it for our brood of hungry chickens. They are now missing out on pumpkin seeds. Poor, poor chickens.

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Pumpkin patties

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pumpkin patties

In our quest to get through our pumpkin harvest my husband suggested that we mash the pumpkin with kidney beans and make a chilli flavoured veggie burger and out of that suggestion these pumpkin patties came into being. They can be made ahead and kept in the fridge until you are ready to cook them so whilst it takes a while to get everything prepared you could do the preparation earlier when you have a bit of time, or even the day before.

The picture above shows them coated in homemade wholemeal loaf breadcrumbs.  If I am honest, I forgot that I had put the loaf in the oven until 2 hours later, so all it was good for was to use the unburned centre for breadcrumbs!  I had put the timer on, but then forgot about it and went for a walk…

I served them with a chorizo tomato sauce, which is made simply by cubing the chorizo and frying in a little olive oil with a finely chopped clove of garlic for two minutes, adding a 400g tin of plum tomatoes, salt and pepper and oregano to taste and then cooking over a gentle heat for about 20 minutes until the tomato sauce has reduced to a nice thick consistency.

500g prepared pumpkin that has been peeled, deseeded and cut into cubes
300g prepared potato, that has been peeled and cubed
130g drained weight red kidney beans (a 215g can provides this amount)
1 red onion, peeled and diced
2½ tsp harissa paste or you could use chilli sauce or dried chillies to taste
1 tsp cumin seeds
20g parmesan cheese, finely grated
salt and pepper
200g breadcrumbs
a little olive oil
a little butter

Method

Put the cubed pumpkin onto a baking tray, sprinkle with olive oil and roast in the oven at 200° c (400°f, gas mark 6) for 15-20 mins until soft and beginning to brown at the edges.  In the meantime place the cubed potato in a pan and just cover with water and boil until tender. Fry the onion in a little oil and a little butter for 5-10 mins over a gentle heat until translucent. Drain the kidney beans and place into a large bowl.  Dry fry the cumin seeds over a medium heat for two minutes until their smell is beginning to be released.  When the pumpkin, potatoes and onion are all cooked add them to the kidney beans.  Add the harissa paste, the cumin seeds, the parmesan and salt and pepper to taste and mash the mixture well. If you have time allow the mixture to cool.  Place the breadcrumbs onto a plate. When the mixture is cool shape into patties and dip each patty well into the breadcrumbs.  You can now place them in the fridge until you are ready to cook.  When you are ready place the patties onto a baking tray and cook in a preheated oven at 180°c (350°f, gas mark 4) for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

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Our pumpkin harvest – a plea for more recipes

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What shall we do with them all?
What shall we do with them all?

This isn’t a recipe, but I did want to share our bumper harvest of pumpkins with you.  I bought a packet of mixed seed and I gave quite a few seedlings away but we still managed this bumper crop.  The plants really took over the veg plot.  We have seventeen pumpkins in storage and the Turk’s Turbans (the yellow ones in the pic) are still producing. Next year we will have to be more restrained with the number of plants we put into the garden.  I have already posted my pumpkin and apple soup recipe and I have also been making roasted pumpkin that I then mash and spread into a baking dish and top with a breadcrumb and cheese mixture and bake at 180°c for about 20 minutes until golden and bubbling.  We will be saving some for halloween carving (if they store well) and we will be giving some to friends for this purpose.  We would really like to use more in cooking though so if any one has any good ideas and recipes for delicious pumpkin recipes I would be very grateful.

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Pumpkin and Apple Soup

3 Comments / pumpkin, soup /

We planted some pumpkin seeds earlier this year which have turned into monsters and taken over our veg patch.  Not wanting to waste them I came up with this soup, which was delicious.  I have a feeling we will be eating a lot of it…

Pumpkin & Apple Soup

Pumpkins in our garden

1kg Pumpkin/squash
300g apple, peeled, cored and chopped
(I used eating apples as this is what I had available)
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 heaped tsp curry powder
1 tsp cumin seed
1 pint vegetable stock
Olive oil
Salt & pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 200c (400f/ gas mark 6)Cut the pumpkin into slices, removing the seeds.  Place onto a baking tray, season and sprinkle with olive oil.  Roast for 20 mins until soft.  Leave until cool enough to handle and remove skin.  Chop into cubes.

In a large pan, sweat the onions in a small amount of olive oil over a medium heat for five mins. Add garlic and apples and cook for a further five mins on a low heat, making sure that they don’t start to brown. Add curry powder and cumin seeds and fry for 2 mins, stirring. Add the roasted pumpkin and stir well so that it all gets covered in the spices.  Add the vegetable stock and simmer gently for 20 mins.  Do not boil as this will ruin the flavour of the soup.

Take the pan off the heat and blend or sieve the soup.  Serve in warmed bowls with croutons or crispy bread and a few sage leaves that have been fried in olive oil until crisp.

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