pumpkin recipes
Here's a collection of pumpkin recipes from our weekly newsletters, and some lovely ones you've sent in. If you'd like more please have a look at our recipe index!
Pumpkin Pie
Tagliatelle with Pumpkin and Stilton sauce
Braised Pumpkin
Pumpkin Fritters
Stuffed Pumpkin
Pumpkin Soup
Pumpkin Muffins
Sage & Pumpkin Bread
Soup in a Pumpkin
A Pumpkin Patch and the Perfect Roast Chicken
Souper Pumpkin Soup
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- 175g/6oz plain flour
- 75g/3oz butter
- 100g caster sugar
- 2 tbsp cold water
- pinch salt
- 450 g (1 lb) prepared weight pumpkin flesh, cut into 2.5 cm (1 in) chunks
- 2 large eggs plus 1 yolk
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 275 ml (10 fl.oz) double cream
Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 4. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and rub it into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add 2 tablespoons of cold water to mix it into a firm dough, then wrap it in cling film and chill for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, to make the filling, steam the pumpkin, then put it in a sieve and press lightly to extract any excess water. Then lightly whisk the eggs and the extra yolk together in a large bowl. Place the sugar, spices and cream in a pan, bring them to simmering point, stirring with a whisk regularly. Then pour this mixture over the eggs and whisk it again briefly. Now add the pumpkin pureé, still whisking everything until it is thoroughly combined. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface, then use it to line a 20cm flan dish. Prick the entire surface with a fork and bake blind at 190ºC/375ºF/Gas mark 5 for 15 minutes until just firm to the touch. Then pour the filling into your pastry case and bake for 35-40 minutes, by which time it will puff up round the edges but still feel slightly wobbly in the centre. Then remove it from the oven and place the tin on a wire cooling rack. Serve chilled (stored loosely covered in foil in the fridge) with some equally chilled créme fraïche, but warm or at room temperature would be fine.
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- 350 g wedge of pumpkin, peeled and de-seeded
- 25 g butter
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 2 tsp chopped fresh parsley
- 300 ml extra thick double cream
- ¼ nutmeg
- 175 g Stilton
- Tagliatelle
Grate the pumpkin flesh. Melt the butter in a fry pan, add the pumpkin and garlic. Cook over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring all the time, until it has softened. Stir in the parsley, cream and nutmeg and cook for another 2 minutes. Cut the cheese into small pieces and add this to the pumpkin sauce. Heat through until the cheese has melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook the pasta. Once ready, drain and return to the pan. Add the sauce and mix together. Serve hot, sprinkled with pine nuts.
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- ½ cup vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp apple juice
- 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 cups peeled and coarsely shredded pumpkin
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- Salt (optional)
- 4 spring onions, sliced
Place the stock, soy sauce, apple juice, onions, pumpkin and pepper in a frying pan. Bring mixture to a boil, cover, and reduce heat. Simmer for 10-12 minutes. Season with salt to taste and garnish with spring onions.
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- 1 pumpkin
- 175 g wholemeal plain flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 egg, separated
- 175 ml water
- 1 small onion, peeled
- 1-2 garlic cloves peeled and crush
- 1 ½ tsp. chilli sauce
- 2 tbsp fresh coriander
- Oil for frying
Cut the pumpkin flesh into thick slices, about 5 inches and ½ inch wide. Steam for about 8-10 minutes or until tender. Remove from the steamer and allow to cool. To make the batter, place the flour, salt, baking powder, cumin seeds and ground cumin in a bowl and mix well. Make a well in the centre, add the egg yolk and gradually stir in the water to form a smooth batter, adding a little extra if necessary. Finely chop the onion and stir into the batter with the garlic, chilli sauce and chopped coriander. Stiffly whisk the egg white and fold lightly into the batter. Heat the oil in a deep fryer. Deep-fry the pumpkin in batches. Using two forks, dip a few slices of pumpkin into the batter to coat evenly, then lower into the hot oil and deep-fry for 1-1 ½ minutes, turning frequently, until crisp, golden brown and cooked through. Drain on absorbent kitchen towel and keep warm whilst cooking the remaining batches. Serve hot, sprinkled with coarse salt.
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- 1 pumpkin
- 2 leeks
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
- 2 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 125 g long grain rice
- 2 tomatoes
- 125 g Cheddar cheese, grated
- 50 g pine nuts
- Salt and pepper
Cut the top from the pumpkin, about 2 inches down. Set this aside for the lid. Scoop out the seeds and most of the flesh, leaving a thin shell. Chop the pumpkin flesh and set this aside also. Clean and then chop the leeks. Heat the oil in a large fry pan and add the leeks garlic thyme and spices. Fry for around 10 minutes then add the pumpkin flesh and continue to cook until golden. Stir frequently to avoid sticking. Transfer this mixture to a bowl. Meanwhile, cook the rice. Skin, de-seed and dice the tomatoes. Drain the rice and add to the pumpkin mixture with the tomatoes, pine nuts and cheese. Mix together with a fork and season with salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture into the pumpkin shell and bake for between 1¼–1½ hours until the flesh has softened and the skin has browned. Remove from the oven and leave for around 10 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve.
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You can take two routes here – the easy peel and chop method, where you just cook, blitz, warm and eat. Or, you can go a bit grander and scoop all the flesh out and use the squash shell as a bowl. It takes elbow grease but it's well worth the effort! Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a starter.
- 1 pumpkin, or other squash weighing about 2kg
- 1 med onion, peeled and finely diced
- 60g butter
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3 blades of mace (or pinch nutmeg)
- Seeds from 1/4 vanilla pod (optional)
- 1‐2 tsp sea salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
- 750‐900ml litres chicken stock
- 1‐2 tbsp sherry
If you want the easy route, just peel slice and then chop the pumpkin flesh (remove seeds and membranes) quite finely – into 1cm thick shards or squares. To serve the soup from the pumpkin, cut a lid off and keep it. Remove seeds and fibres. Scrape out flesh with knife and spoon ‐ leave 1‐2cm thickness in the wall or you'll puncture it. Chop flesh as above. Melt butter in large pan. Add onion; slowly cook for 15 minutes. Add pumpkin and the spices (bar salt and pepper). Sweat pumpkin with onions on a low heat for quite some time ‐ between 30 and 40 minutes ‐ until it’s quite soft ‐ add a splash of stock if you fear the squash is getting too dry. Once tender, tip in all of the stock; simmer a moment, then puree until smooth. Pass soup through a sieve for a really smooth texture ‐ it's a pain but well worth it. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. When ready to serve, splash in the sherry, pour the soup into the hallowed pumpkin (or just heat in a pan if you didn't bother with the hollowing malarkey!) and bake (lid off but warming in the oven next to the pumpkin) at 170C for 30 minutes, or until the soup is warmed through.
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Perfect for autumnal breakfast, brunch or tea‐time treats. Try serving with mulled apple juice. Makes 12 muffins.
- 225g pumpkin flesh
- 2 eggs
- ½ tsp ginger
- ½ tsp cloves
- 125ml milk
- 50ml honey
- 50g brown sugar
- 2 tbsp butter
- 175g plain white flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 200°C. Steam the pumpkin flesh until tender then purée in a blender or food processor. Allow to cool. Mix together the eggs, milk, honey, sugar and butter, and mix with the pumpkin. Combine flour, baking powder and spices and add these dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture. Stir to mix, but don't over mix. Pour into muffin pans and bake for 18 to 20 minutes.
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Serves: 4-8
- 800g pumpkin
- 25g yeast
- 1.1kg (2 1/2 lb) strong white flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp freshly chopped sage leaves
Preheat oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Peel the pumpkin. Cut into 1-inch cubes. Boil in unsalted water until tender. Drain, reserving cooking liquid and puree pumpkin (without liquid if possible) until smooth. Dissolve yeast in 90ml of the cooking liquid and leave for 10 minutes until foaming. Mix flour, salt, yeast and sieved pumpkin, fresh sage and enough of the cooking liquid together until you have a soft, malleable dough. Knead for 5 minutes, turn into oiled bowl and leave until doubled in size. Shape into fist-sized rolls and leave to double in size again before baking 20-25 minutes in a hot oven on a greased baking tray.
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Prep time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 1 hour
Serves 4-6 depending on pumpkin size
- 1 pumpkin or rounded squash
- A generous lump of butter
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 bottle of cider
- A few mugs of warm stock
- Seeds scraped from ½ a vanilla pod
- A pinch of chilli powder
- A pinch of ground cinnamon
Chop the top off the pumpkin. Remove the seeds. Carve/scoop out the flesh using a strong spoon and knife. Finely chop. Set
aside. Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.
Place a lidded pan over medium heat. Add butter. Once frothy, add onion and a pinch of salt. Cook slowly until onions look soft and sweet. Fold pumpkin in. Pop a lid on. Let the pumpkin sweat down until it's all mushy, 20-30 mins.
Remove lid. Stir in vanilla and chilli. Cook for a moment. Slowly stir in cider. Add enough stock to get soup to double cream consistency. Puree. Pour into the scooped out pumpkin. Bake for 30 mins, until the pumpkin is just tender and soup is bubbly.
Add more stock if soup is too thick. Serve with our crusty Pain d'Auvergne bread and a wedge of Green's of Glastonbury cheddar.
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Make a pumpkin patch for your chicken to roast in, and all the juices will get sponged up by the super squash. Yu-u-umm.
Prep time: 10-15 mins
Cooking time: 1 hour
Resting time: 15 mins
Serves 4-6
- 1.4kg chicken, giblets removed
- 1 pumpkin or autumn squash
- A handful of thyme
- A few garlic cloves
- A glug of olive oil
- Sea salt and black pepper
Preheat the oven to 230°C/450°F/gas 8. Halve your pumpkin/squash. Scoop out all the seeds. If the skin is quite thin, keep it on. Peel, if not.
Slice pumpkin into 2cm thick slices. Lay in a roasting tin. Tuck some thyme sprigs and crushed garlic cloves into the mix. Drizzle a good bit of olive oil over the top. Season.
Pat the chicken dry. Sit it in the centre of the pumpkin patch. Season well. Roast at full whack for 1 hour. Turn the oven off but leave the bird in for another 15 mins. Remove. Carve after it's rested 15 mins longer.
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This has got to be the easiest way to make soup. All you do is roughly chop the ingredients and shove them in the oven (preferably on a roasting tray). Let time do its magic, sweetening and softening the ingredients. Blend. Season. Done.
Prep: 5 mins
Cooking: 45 – 60 mins
Serves 2 as main or 4 as a lighter meal or starter
- 1 medium pumpkin/squash, or 2 small
- 1 onion, quartered
- 4 garlic cloves
- Some herbs (thyme, sage, rosemary – whatever you fancy)
- A bit of chilli if you like
- A pinch of spices if you want
- Some stock (no more than 500ml)
- A trickle of Sherry, if you like
- A touch of cheese, cream or butter, if you like
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Ok. Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Halve your pumpkin/squash. Scoop out the seeds. (don't chuck them - you can roast them and sprinkle them on the soup). Pop the squash on a roasting tray with the onion and the garlic.
Scatter herbs, chilli and/or spices over the top. Roast for 45minutes to 1 hour. Check every now and then. Turn the squash over if they're going brown, and pluck the garlic out the oven once they’ve gone soft.
For toasty seeds, quickly clean the pumpkin strands off, drizzle with oil, season and arrange in a single layer on a roasting dish and cook alongside your squash. They'll take 10-15 mins.
When the squash is soft, scoop the flesh out and blend with the onion and garlic. Drizzle in enough stock to come half way up the vegetables. Puree. Taste. Season and add more stock to get the consistency you like. Add a bit of cheese, cream or butter if you want. Blend. Sprinkle. Eat. Yum.
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