Delicious Seasonal Pumpkin Recipes

One of the most sustainable ways to dispose of your pumpkins is to eat them. Pumpkins are a super versatile vegetable and truly delicious with lots of different ways to incorporate them into your cooking from sweet cupcakes to warming curries. Here are just a few of our favourite recipes from BBC good food:

Pumpkin Cupcakes (Vegan option)

Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 25 mins
Serves: 12

Image credit: BBC Good Food.

Ingredients

• 175ml sunflower oil
• 175g light muscovado sugar
• 3 large eggs (9 tbsp Aquafaba for vegan alternative)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 200g coarsely grated pumpkin flesh
• 100g sultanas
• grated zest 1 orange
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 200g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the frosting

• 200g tub full-fat cream cheese (or non-dairy cream cheese for vegan alternative)
• 85g icing sugar
• toasted chopped pecans to decorate (optional)

Method

Step 1

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line a 12-hole muffin tray with paper cases. Pour the oil into a large bowl and add the sugar, eggs and vanilla. Beat together, then add the grated pumpkin, sultanas and orange zest.

Step 2

Stir in the cinnamon, flour and bicarbonate of soda, the mixture will be quite wet. Spoon into the cases. Bake for 25 mins until firm and springy to the touch and a skewer inserted in the centre of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack. At this stage, you can freeze the cakes for 4 months.

Step 3

To make the frosting, beat the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth then spread on top of the cupcakes. Leave plain or decorate with toasted pecans. Store in the fridge, but return to room temperature to serve for the best flavour and texture.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/pumpkin-passion-cupcakes

Pumpkin Houmous (Vegan)

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 50 mins
Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1 small pumpkin (about 500g)
• olive oil, for roasting
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• ½ lemon, juiced
• 2 tbsp tahini paste
• 400g can chickpeas, drained
• 1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced
• 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and sliced
• mini breadsticks, bread or pitta chips, to serve

Method

Step 1

Cut the top off the pumpkin, about two-thirds of the way up. Remove the pumpkin seeds, then scoop the flesh out of the bottom and the lid.

Step 2

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Cut the pumpkin flesh into pieces and put in a roasting tin with the garlic and a good glug of oil. Season, then bake for 45 mins until very tender. Leave to cool.

Step 3

Tip the pumpkin into a food processor with any juices from the roasting tin and the garlic. Add the lemon juice, tahini paste and chickpeas. Season with salt and blend to a paste – add a little more oil if it’s too thick. Scoop the houmous back into the pumpkin and serve with the peppers, breadsticks and pitta chips.

 www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/pumpkin-houmous

Pumpkin curry with chickpeas (Vegan)

Prep: 20mins
Cook: 20mins
Serves: 4

Image credit: BBC Good Food.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 3 tbsp Thai yellow curry paste, or vegetarian alternative
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 3 large stalks of lemongrass, bashed with the back of a knife
• 6 cardamom pods
• 1 tbsp mustard seed
• 1 pumpkin (about 1kg)
• 250ml vegetable stock
• 400ml can reduced-fat coconut milk
• 400g can chickpea, drained and rinsed
• 2 limes
• large handful mint leaves

Method

Step 1

Heat the oil in a sauté pan, then gently fry the curry paste with the onions, lemongrass, cardamom and mustard seed for 2-3 mins until fragrant. Stir the pumpkin or squash into the pan and coat in the paste, then pour in the stock and coconut milk. Bring everything to a simmer, add the chickpeas, then cook for about 10 mins until the pumpkin is tender. The curry can now be cooled and frozen for up to 1 month.

Step 2

Squeeze the juice of one lime into the curry, then cut the other lime into wedges to serve alongside. Just before serving, tear over mint leaves, then bring to the table with the lime wedges and warm naan bread.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/pumpkin-curry-chickpeas

For more pumpkin recipes, head over to BBC good food: bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/pumpkin-recipes.

How to dispose of pumpkins sustainably

It’s that time of year again when millions of pumpkins are wasted and end up in landfills. However, there is so much more you can do to avoid this. In this blog, we explore a few ways to make the most of your pumpkins and dispose of them in the most sustainable, eco-friendly way.

Eat them

Pumpkins are a very versatile vegetable and they are also delicious! One of the most sustainable ways to dispose of your pumpkins is to eat them. There are so many scrumptious recipes you could try, from pumpkin cupcakes to a warming pumpkin and chickpea curry and more.

Wildlife

Leave any pumpkin left-overs out for the birds and local wildlife to enjoy as a seasonal treat. Or, before the pumpkins go rotten or mouldy, ask your local farmer if they would like them for their animals to enjoy.

Compost

Chop up your pumpkins into small chunks and let them all break down on your compost pile or even bury them in the garden. All of the pumpkin goodness is a great way to add rich nutrients to your garden. We suggest removing the seeds to avoid your own mini pumpkin patch next year.

Seasonal decorations

To get the most out of your pumpkins, before they start to go too soft and go over, you could turn them into a pumpkin vase. These make the perfect, seasonal decoration. All you need to do is:

• Use your carved-out pumpkin
• Place a large/small vase inside with fresh water (depending on the pumpkin’s size)
• Add your autumnal bunch of flowers