Going to a pumpkin patch to pick your own pumpkins is only half the fun of Halloween season! With these healthy, quick and easy pumpkin recipes, you’ll not only cut food wastage, but create some wonderful autumnal dishes. Most of these recipes are vegan and offer a healthier alternative to the classic recipe. So, get your apron on and follow along with us!
Our Favourite Easy Pumpkin Recipes:
1. Pumpkin Pie
2. Pumpkin Soup
3. Pumpkin Spiced Latte
4. Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin purée
Pumpkin purée is a key ingredient in the following recipes, so let’s give you a quick rundown on how to make this - it's super easy!
Method:
Simply peel, deseed and cut your pumpkin into chunks, place in a large saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes and drain. Press the mixture through a sieve, season with salt and pepper and you're done!
Pumpkin Pie
Let's face it, pumpkin pie is a classic. It has a stigma of being difficult to make, but it's actually pretty easy and a perfect activity for a cold, rainy afternoon. We recommend buying pre-made pastry as it saves bags of time and effort - who doesn't love a cheat anyway?
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- Ready made shortcrust pastry enough for a 9” flan dish
- 450g fresh pumpkin purée (see above for how to make this)
- 150g light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp each of ground ginger, grated nutmeg and salt
- 175ml milk
- 2 eggs, beaten
Steps:
1. Pastry Prep
Heat your oven to 180°C and line a 9" tin with parchment paper and grease the flan dish. Place your ready rolled pastry in the dish and bake blind for 15 minutes. Baking blind ensures that the pastry will be cooked properly before placing in a wet mixture. Once you have baked it blind, remove the baking beans and cook for a further 10 minutes until golden.
2. Filling
Mix the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl: the sugar, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and cornflour. Incorporate the beaten eggs and milk into the dry mixture then combine all of this with the pumpkin purée, whisking thoroughly.
3. Bake
Increase the oven temperature to 220°C. Pour the entire wet mixture into the pastry case and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature back to 180°C and cook for a further 35 minutes until the filling is set.
Pumpkin pie is great on it's own, but served with cream or crème fraiche will really add some luxury.
Pumpkin Soup
Pumpkin soup is a super comforting dish, and is such an easy pumpkin recipe to ensure all of those leftovers are used.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 kg pumpkin chunks
- 2 red onions, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 700ml vegetable stock
- 100ml crème fraiche (or double cream for extra indulgence)
- ½ tsp grated nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground cumin
Steps:
1. Prepare the Pumpkin
To ensure you get the most from your pumpkin, peel off the skin with a sharp knife and cut into quarters. Then, remove the seeds and pulp (you can toast the seeds later on) and cut the flesh into chunks.
2. Sweat the Veg
Heat the oil in a large saucepan and gently cook 2 diced onions until soft. Add the garlic and pumpkin chunks, then carry on cooking for around 10 minutes until it starts to soften.
3. Stock
Add the nutmeg, cumin, salt and pepper and cook the spices off for around 2 minutes. Pour over your vegetable stock, bring to the boil and leave to simmer for a further 10 minutes.
4. Finishing Touches
Add the crème fraiche then bring back to the boil. Now you're ready to purée! We suggest using a hand blender but a food processor will work just as well. Blend until smooth then heat through in the pan and you're done!
Soup is notoriously easy to make and you can basically chuck what ever vegetables you want in it. Pumpkin soup is classically sweet, but by balancing it with these spices gives it an edge. Try adding a teaspoon of curry powder for an extra kick.
Pumpkin Spiced Latte
Pumpkin spiced lattes are everywhere at the moment, and we wanted to make this one vegan. Yes it's more effort than popping into your local Starbucks, but it's well worth it for the end result.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp pumpkin purée
- 1 tsp pumpkin spice mix (steps to make this are below!)
- 2 tsp honey
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 shot of espresso
- 180 ml dairy free milk (we suggest oat or almond milk)
- 60 ml water
Steps:
1. Make your Pumpkin Spice Mix
Combine ½ tsp each of ground cinnamon and ginger, with a pinch each of nutmeg, ground allspice, ground clove and ground cardamom.
2. Combine
Add your milk and water to a small saucepan, and bring to a simmer. Add the pumpkin purée, pumpkin spice mix, vanilla and honey and whisk until smooth.
3. COFFEE
Mix in your espresso shot and whisk until smooth. We suggest using an espresso shot to get that wonderful coffee taste, but if you prefer, use a teaspoon of instant coffee dissolved in hot water. Note: using non-dairy milk may cause the mixture to separate slightly, but keep whisking and stirring over heat to ensure it all blends together.
Mix it up: make an iced version by combining all of your ingredients in a jar with a lid (rather than over heat), and shake vigorously with ice.
Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
Waste not want not! Pumpkin seeds are great as a snack or a topping for soups, stews or breakfasts - it cuts food waste and they're super easy to make.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- Handful of pumpkin seeds
- Splash of olive oil or coconut oil for a healthier option
- A pinch each of:
- Smoked paprika
- Garlic powder
- Black Pepper
- Salt
Steps:
1. Prep
Set your oven or grill to 180°C.
2. Remove the Seeds
Remove the seeds from within your pumpkin , (an ice-cream scoop is great for this) and wash the seeds to remove any pulp. Dry them thoroughly.
3. Season
Toss the seeds in a bowl with the oil, and seasoning. You can really get creative here and add any type of seasoning you want - try curry powder and cumin for a bit of spice, or simply salt and pepper for a more neutral flavour.
4. Roast
Spread the seeds evenly over a lightly greased sheet on a baking tray. Cook for 10 minutes, tossing them halfway through to encourage browning.
Halloween is a wonderful time of year, and getting creative cooking with pumpkins is a large part of the fun! We hope we've proved to you that pumpkins are a super versatile and easy ingredient to cook with, and packed full of flavour. We should give pumpkins some love all year round, but especially during the Halloween season.
