Top tips and recipes for leftover Halloween pumpkins - including 'amazing autumnal bake'
With Halloween festivities taking place this weekend, many of us will have leftover pumpkin. But there’s no need to throw any of it out, writes Rosalind Erskine.
Roughly one in two pumpkins goes to waste each year at this time, as Halloween draws to a close. But with searches for “pumpkin recipes” surging by 2,495% over the past month according to Google Trends, it’s clear many of us are looking for inspiration to make the most out of their pumpkin. Plus it’s an ingredient that could offer more nutritional benefits than you might think.
Paul Mason, Michelin-trained chef and head of food at Prep Kitchen, the healthy meal prep delivery service, shares the nutritional benefits of using your leftover pumpkin.
He said: “Pumpkin is a very versatile ingredient, but many aren’t aware that there’s more to it than its seasonal appeal. Pumpkin is actually rich in beta-carotene, the plant pigment that gives it its bright orange colour. Our bodies convert beta-carotene into vitamin A, which supports vision, immune function, and skin health.
“Alternatively, pumpkin seeds provide a tasty source of plant-based protein. So making use of your Halloween pumpkins is not only a great way of reducing food waste but also a way to eat healthily this season.
“When you’re carving your pumpkin, when scooping it out, don’t throw away the seeds. Save them to make some seasonal snacks by simply separating them from the stringy part, then rinse and dry, toss them with a little olive oil, and add a seasoning of your choice before roasting them in the oven until golden and crunchy. Use them as a healthy snack option or sprinkle over salads or soups for a little extra crunch.”
The seeds can be used as part of this zero waste brownie recipe which is an “amazing autumnal bake”.
This recipe comes from John Quigley of Red Onion in Glasgow who gave this delicious recipe to Zero Waste Scotland.
Pumpkin seed brownies
Ingredients:
• 140g dark chocolate, minimum 55% cocoa, chopped into small pieces
• 120g unsalted butter
• 100g plain flour
• 5 eggs
• ½ vanilla pod, seeds only
• 255g soft brown sugar
• 15g pumpkin seeds, rinsed and left to dry
Method:
Toast the pumpkin seeds on a baking tray for 3-4 minutes at 200˚C/gas mark 6, set aside to cool.
Place the butter and half of the dark chocolate in a bowl and melt together using a bain-marie or microwave.
Mix the egg and vanilla together, then add the sugar. Add to the melted butter and chocolate.
Sift in the flour and fold through gently until just combined. Add the remaining chocolate pieces and mix well.
Pour into a lined, 20cm square baking tray and top with the toasted pumpkin seeds.
Reduce the oven down to 175˚C/gas mark 3 and bake the brownies for 25 minutes. If the middle is still wobbly, place back in the oven until just set.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before turning out and cutting into squares.
Sausage, apple and pumpkin bake
Serves: 4
Top Scots chef Neil Forbes gave us this delicious recipe for Sausage, apple and pumpkin bake that’s ideal for Halloween pumpkins.
Neil said: "We love to serve this one-pot-wonder in the Forbes’ household.
"Use proper, juicy sausages from a farm shop with heritage tatties and apples, some onion for background flavour, pumpkin for that sweet, earthy taste, and some sage to marry it all together. Oh, and remember to keep the skin on the apples and potatoes."
Ingredients:
• Allow three sausages per person (I like a good old pork and herb banger)
• 2 medium-sized onions, roughly chopped
• a splash of cold-pressed rapeseed oil
• salt and pepper
• ¼ pumpkin (or butternut squash), roughly chopped
• a few par-boiled potatoes (like a heritage Pink Fir Apple or Sharpe’s Express), cut into large chunks
• a knob of butter
• 1 clove garlic, sliced
• 1 very large cooking apple (James Grieve or Bramley are excellent), cored and roughly chopped
• a small handful of fennel fronds, roughly chopped
• a sprig of rosemary
Method:
Heat the oil in a large casserole dish or oven-proof pan, and fry the onions and whole sausages. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the pumpkin to the pan. Keep stirring and moving the dish around to get colour on all the ingredients. Then add the potatoes, butter, garlic and apples.
Make sure everything is starting to colour nicely before placing in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes at 200C/Gas Mark 6 to cook further and brown.
Remove from the oven, add the fennel fronds and stir. Serve at the table in the dish you cooked it in – no time for pretty presentation here.
Halloween roasted pumpkin gnocchi
Serves: 2
A roasted pumpkin doubles as the serving bowl for this Halloween supper. Its soft flesh becomes a simple sauce with roasted garlic, chilli and Parmesan, coating golden gnocchi before it is spooned back into the shell.
Ingredients
• 1 x 350g pack of gnocchi such as Sunny & Luna Pumpkin Gnocchi
• 1 small edible pumpkin (about 1–1.5kg)
• 1 small garlic bulb
• Olive oil
• ½ tsp chilli flakes
• 30g Parmesan, finely grated, plus extra to serve
• A few tablespoons of water, as needed
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Heat the oven to 190°C. Cut a lid from the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds and stringy centre. Rub 1 tbsp olive oil and a little salt and pepper over the inside. Slice the top off the garlic bulb, drizzle with a little oil and place it inside the pumpkin. Replace the pumpkin lid and set on a baking tray.
Roast for about 1 hour, until the pumpkin flesh and garlic are tender but the shell still holds its shape. Check with a knife near the end of cooking; the time will depend on the size of the pumpkin.
When the pumpkin has about 10 minutes left, heat 1 tbsp oil in a nonstick frying pan over a medium-high heat. Pan-fry the gnocchi for 5-7 minutes, turning occasionally, until golden and crisp.
Carefully remove the pumpkin from the oven and lift off the lid. Transfer the garlic to a plate. Scoop the soft pumpkin flesh into the pan with the gnocchi, leaving a sturdy layer inside the shell so it can support the filling.
Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves from their skins into the pan with the gnocchi. Add the chilli flakes and 2 tbsp water, then mash the pumpkin and garlic with a spoon over a low heat. Stir in the Parmesan and add a little more water as needed to make a sauce that coats the gnocchi. Season to taste.
Spoon the gnocchi back into the pumpkin shell. Finish with extra Parmesan and black pepper, and serve immediately.
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