Cooking up a seasonal pumpkin treat

A quarter of the UK population buys a pumpkin for Halloween, as the popularity of pumpkin carving and seasonal displays grows year on year. 

New research shows that over eight million pumpkins in the UK will be thrown away after Halloween and that’s a lot of food waste – around 18,000 tons of pumpkin, including flesh and seeds.

So what better way to curb the waste than to cook up a warming pumpkin treat!

Our Nellsar Chefs share some tasty recipes to treat our tastebuds.

Chef Daniel Popescu at Princess Christian Care Home: Baked pumpkin with cinnamon and honey

Ingredients:

• 1 pumpkin (approx 3kg)
• 100g of honey
• 1 tablespoon of cinnamon (or amount according to preference)
• 100g caster sugar

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees.
2. Clean and wash the pumpkin, clean it from the seed house.
3. Cut strips, then combine with the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
4. Arrange the pumpkin slices on a baking tray lined with baking paper, leaving a little space between them.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until softened and browned nicely.

Chef Ellen Rocha at Bromley Park Care Home: Prawns in pumpkin

Ingredients:

• 1 medium size pumpkin
• 1 vegetable tablet stock
• 1 large onion chopped
• 2 garlic clove crushed
• 4 plum tomatoes peeled and deseed
• 500g medium size peeled prawns
• 6-7 large prawns to decorate
• 400ml coconut milk
• 25g margarine
• olive oil
• 1 tsp paprika
• coriander
• salt and fresh grounded black pepper
• fresh red pepper chopped (optional)

Method:

1. Heat the oven gas 180 C.
2. With a sharp knife cut the top of it, like a Halloween pumpkin. Remove the seeds. Wrap in an aluminium paper and bake up side down in the oven for about 40-45 minutes or until tender. Do not let to burn.
3. When cooked, remove from the oven, let it cool down and with a tablespoon carefully take some of the pulp from the pumpkin and reserve.
4. Heat the margarine in a frying pan and cook the onions for 5 minutes, until transparent. Add the garlic and cook for more 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for a further 3 minutes. Add the medium prawns and cook until they have a light pink color, add the coconut milk, vegetable stock, mix well, add the paprika, fresh chilli, salt and pepper and coriander stirring gently for 5 minutes and pour the sauce into the pumpkin, brush it with olive oil.
5. Return to the oven and cook for 15 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, clean the large prawns, remove the legs of the prawns and break off the shell by bending both sides backwards. Cut down the back of the prawn, cutting deep enough just to expose the intestinal vein which should then be removed.
7. Heat a little bit of olive oil in a frying pan and fry the prawns until the colour is lightly pink, seasoning with salt and pepper and reserve.
8. Decorate the pumpkin with the large prawns and serve with boiled rice.

Silverpoint Court Residential Care Home: South African pumpkin fritters

Ingredients:

To make 12 portions of pumpkin batter

• 200g pumpkin, or butternut squash
• 75g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp baking powder (not soda)
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar (add only half a tsp if making a savoury side dish)
• 2 large eggs
• 25g oil, for frying
• 4 tbsp cinnamon sugar (if using for dessert)

Method:

Cooking the pumpkin

Steam the pumpkin for about 20 minutes (this depends on the size and type of pumpkin being used). Once the pumpkin is soft all the way through then it is ready. Once cooked, remove pumpkin and pat dry, discard water and add to a mixer.

Making the batter

1. Add all the dry ingredients (10sec/ speed 4)
2. Add eggs (45sec/speed 4)
3. The batter should almost hold its shape. If too stiff, add a small amount of milk. If it is too runny, add a little more flour.
4. Add oil to frying pan on medium high heat.
5. Scoop a heaped table spoon of batter and drop into frying pan.
6. Fry until firm and golden on the underside (this is important otherwise it will run everywhere), then flip over and fry until golden brown.
7. To test if they are cooked press firmly and you should see that they spring back into shape.
8. Eat as a side dish or as a dessert with cinnamon sugar.

Credit: www.recipecommunity.com.au