Cooking with Winter Pumpkins

Cooking with a Glut of Pumpkins

Now in Mid-Winter, I find I still have a serious over supply of pumpkins and winter squashes.

This year I harvested in excess of 80 of these wonderful vegetables. Of course, some of these are the handful sized Baby Bears and similar, which I love.

I have given away loads of them to my family and to friends. I have eaten lots of them and served them up over the Christmas holidays in a variety of recipes but, find I still have a lot left. They are stacked in my utility room and on the stairs to my upper floor [being the coolest areas of the house – I don’t have a frost-free garage or shed]. I still check them weekly as they can cause a lot of damage to areas where they are stored if they collapse.

It is not a boast when I say I have so many but, an admission of very poor management. I had the same problem last year – you would think I would learn!

In the first round of sowings, few germinated so, another sowing, in the second round all germinated and I had too many – give some away. Oh dear! A couple have not thrived, now I have too few, sow again. I must now plant all the young seedlings, no-one wants them and I can’t bear to throw them away…. Or something like that.

Suffice to say, by mid January, I still have too many pumpkins and my family and friends can’t cope with any more.

I shall do what I did last summer with my excess [especially courgettes]. I shall put them out on my garden wall and invite people to help themselves. However, pumpkins are not to everyone’s taste or knowledge of what to do with them so I have printed off a leaflet of recipes which, I hope, passers-by will help themselves to.

Although, I think, I have put up most of these recipes before, here they are again.

Recipes using Pumpkins and Winter Squash

Butternut Squash  Soup – other winter squash and pumpkin also work well

1 Medium to large butternut squash ( well this depends on the average you have produced on your plot)

 2  Large potatoes ( the floury variety)

1 litre ( 2 pints) chicken or vegetable stock

1 medium Chilli pepper ( my choice is for Joe’s Long, I find them reliably medium hot even in cool years)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Finely chopped coriander

 2 – 3 cloves of garlic

150 ml ( ¼ pint double cream) if you wish you can add milk to deduce the fat content.

A dollop of crème fraishe to garnish.

Method

·         Wash and cut the squash in half lengthways. Remove the seeds.

·         Peel the garlic cloves and put them in the seed spaces of the squashes to roast.

·         Roast the squash – oven 180ºC  no 5 gas for 25 to 30 mins.  In the meantime, wash, peel and cut the potatoes into cubes.

·         Put the potatoes into a large saucepan with the stock, chilli and seasoning and bring to the boil. Simmer gently.

·         When the squash is cooked and soft, scoop it (with the roasted garlic), into the saucepan. Bring to the boil then simmer gently for 10 minutes or so to blend the flavours.

·         Put through a blender or blitz with a hand blender until smooth. If you don’t have electronic equipment, just mash the ingredients well.

·         Correct the seasoning to taste and serve.  Garnish with chopped coriander and a dollop of crème fraishe

Helen’s Pumpkin and Coconut Soup

A totally delicious soup from my friend – Helen Yates

1 medium sized pumpkin or squash

A little olive oil

 1 stalk of lemon grass

A tin of coconut milk

1 litre (2 pints) vegetable stock

Salt and pepper to taste

·         Peel and roughly chop the pumpkin or squash. Drizzle with olive oil and roast but don't let it go black. Remove from oven and put in a large saucepan with a bruised stalk of lemon grass.

·         Cover with a light vegetable stock and simmer until the pumpkin flesh is really soft.

·         Remove the lemon grass and liquidise the pumpkin and stock, if it looks too thick add a bit more stock.

·         Put the lemon grass back in and add a tin of coconut milk, then heat gently. Remove the lemon grass before serving - that's it!  Serve with hot crusty bread – delicious!

Roasted Baby Pumpkins

Allow 1 small pumpkin per person

Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1 plump garlic clove per pumpkin [more if liked] – peeled and crushed or chopped

1 small sprig or a few leaves of rosemary for each half pumpkin

Olive oil

Method

·         Remove the stalk and wash the outside of the pumpkin carefully.

·         Slice the pumpkin in half through the middle, horizontally and scoop out the seeds.

·         Place the half pumpkins on an oven-proof tray or dish. Add the chopped garlic, salt and pepper and a small sprig of rosemary and a spray or a teaspoonful of olive oil.

·         Bake in a moderate oven No5 Gas or 180ºC for approx 30 – 40 minutes. Check with a skewer that the flesh of the pumpkin is properly cooked.  Serve immediately.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Roasted Potatoes

1 – 2 medium onions - red onions for preference – peeled and cut into chunks

½ kilo suitable roasting potatoes – washed, peeled and cut into large chunks

1 medium butternut squash – sliced, peeled and deseeded then cut into chunks

1 garlic bulb – separate the cloves and skin them

A good dollop of top quality olive oil

A good sprinkle of sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Some sprigs of rosemary

Method

·         Prepare the vegetables.

·         Heat the oil in a roasting pan until hot - 200ºC, No 6 gas

·         Toss the prepared squash, onions and potatoes in the hot oil.

·         Add the seasoning, herbs and garlic and return to the oven.

·         Cook for a further 30-40 minutes until the vegetables are golden brown and crunchy ( this will depend on the size you have cut them.

·         Serve immediately with any roast meat or with a nut roast.

Roasted Herby Pumpkin

For 4 people as a vegetable dish to serve with roast meat

1 small to medium pumpkin or 2 small if you like lots

4 - 6 garlic cloves –  skin, peel and chop them

2 – 3 Tblsp of top quality olive oil

A good sprinkle of sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Some sprigs of rosemary

Method

·         Wash the pumpkins and remove the stalks.

·         Cut each into 4 sections and remove all the seeds

·         Add the seasoning, herbs and garlic and splash some olive oil into each section.

·         Sprinkle several rosemary leaves on top of each [they can be chopped if you wish].

·         Cook in a moderately hot oven about 30 minutes before your roast meat will. Test with a skewer or fork to make sure the vegetable is well cooked – it should be golden brown on top.

·         Serve immediately with any roast meat or with a nut roast.