Baked Pumpkin - Simple Recipes, Don’t Let Your Decorations Get Wasted

During October the stores are full of Pumpkins for Halloween, if you’re like me you pick them up for displays or spooky scenes. They rot and come November there are rotting pumpkins on porches everywhere.

Instead of allowing this to happen we’ve started replacing them before they reach that stage and cook the ones we removed. (Obviously not the ones you have cut eyes in and burnt with a candle)

The following are two simple recipes for large or small pumpkins that you can follow or adapt.

Pumpkins are basically a super food we overlook this because of their decorative value, Pumpkins (or winter squash) are:

1. High in nutrients and full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
2. Good for your eyes, they have large amounts of beta-carotene which turn into vitamin A in your body, which supports night vision and helps protect the retina.
3. Helps your immune system with high levels of vitamin C and vitamin E which protect cells from damage.
4. Full of Potassium and fibre that, together with vitamin C, work to help assist blood pressure, circulation and lower heart disease risks.
5. Great for your skin, the Beta-carotene and vitamin C assist in making collagen which helps to protect skin cells against the sun rays.
6. Low in calories but have a high water content to give you that full feeling.
7. Cheap

They also taste great as they are, or with fillings, eat it all including the skin, they also look cool, even kids will eat spooky food.

Recipe one - Stuffed Mini Pumpkins

1. Munchkins (mini pumpkins/squash)
2. All Spice powder
3. Nutmeg (optional)
4. Grated Cheese
5. Foil

Recipe Two - Pumpkin Bowls

1. Medium size Pumpkin
2. Filling Of your choice - curry, chilli, chowder
3. Foil

Mini Pumpkins have been renamed Munchkins which is cute, but they are small winter squash and have the same nutritional values as the big ones. For this recipe I used the ones I had from my backdrop for my haunted Spell Book.

This recipe could not be any easier and can be added to any dish with so little effort. They take about an hour to cook but only use five minutes of your time.

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180c
2. Cut the top off the munchkin, as near to the top as you can get under the stalk
3. Scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon
4. Lightly sprinkle some All spice and nutmeg (optional) inside then fill them with grated cheese. (I used all the little bits of cheese left in the fridge, any will do)
5. Put the lid back on and wrap in foil and place in the center of the oven on a baking tray, cook for 35 minutes.
6. Remove the foil and cook for a further 25 minutes or until they look cooked and are soft when you poke them.

Serve with any dinner that you fancy, we had them with a steak, other veggies and my Five Day Gravy. You can fill Munchkins with all manner of stuffing, mash potato, mashed celeriac, cream cheese or hot sauce.

A medium size pumpkin is perfect for turning into edible bowls, alter the ingredients to meet the size of your squash. I used a “Ghost” pumpkin in the pictures about 8” diameter, this is one of our midweek recipes as it’s simple and takes a few minutes of your time.

1. Preheat the oven to 180c
2. Cut the stalk off the pumpkin so it will be flat and stand up when upside down, cut in half and remove the seeds (keep these, don’t waste them, cooking details in the summary)
3. Put the two halves back together and wrap the Pumpkin in foil, place on a baking tray and put in the middle of the oven.
4. Bake for 45 minutes.
5. Remove the foil, lay the two halves down apart and return to the oven for a further 40 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven when it looks done and is soft to poke, let it sit for a few minutes.
7. Fill with your main dish, we had curry in the pictures, the taste of Pumpkin really works well with Tikka Masala.
8. Add your sides and enjoy, you can eat the curry and the bowl.

This is super simple and good for you, at this time of year we use Pumpkin bowls a few times a week.

Lets not waste food, Pumpkins area great decoration but replace them or use them before they turn to porch mush.

For both recipes you can change the fillings, alter the spices or switch things up with recipe additions (hot chilli filling is fantastic), the cooking instructions remain the same.

Don’t waste the Seeds:

Pumpkin seeds are part of what makes the Pumpkin a super food, use the seeds in salads, nut mixes or trail mix.

1. Clean the seeds
2. Boil for 5-10 minutes and let cool
3. Coat in your choice of spices for seasoning
4. Bake at 180c for about ten minutes
5. Cool and Eat.

Enjoy Halloween, eat the decorations and help save the planet.