Pumpkins are not just for Halloween!

This season heralds in the amazing autumnal colours of reds, russets, oranges, burnt ochre….. to name but a few. Pumpkins certainly fit into this great plethora of colours, imparting versatility to so many cooking styles, from baking, roasting, casseroles and soups – even salads. Choosing tasty herbs and warming spices will add delicious flavours and literally ‘spice-up’ the final result. They can be utilized in many different ways, either as a stand-alone meal, as a centrepiece for family dinners or even as a sharing plate for cosy winter suppers.

But pumpkins are too healthy to be restricted to Halloween; they are packed with vitamins and minerals: Vitamin C and Vitamin E are really powerful antioxidants which help prevent heart disease, and Vitamin A is not only a powerful antioxidant but also really important to promote healthy sight. With lots of iron (which prevents anaemia) and Potassium for healthy nerves, it seems like a perfect food, but pumpkins are also high in fibre and water, which is one of the most important parts of nutrition as even slight dehydration can cause major health problems. And pumpkins provide all these amazing health benefits whilst also tasting delicious!

If you really want to learn more about pumpkins – how they are grown and how they are prepared for cooking – then take a trip down to Kilduff Farm (near North Berwick) where Russell and Lucy, a husband and wife team, are on a mission to encourage more people to cook and eat pumpkins, reduce food waste and highlight the fact that this is a very delicious vegetable to add to your daily diet.

kilduff pumpkin 2 — Kilduff Farm, image by Nick Mailer

Try this easy recipe and use your favourite cheese:

Roasted Pumpkin with Cashel Blue Cheese Cream
Serves 4-6

1 Medium sized pumpkin (orange flesh)
1 large red pepper
350ml thick double cream
25g good quality butter
200g Cashel Blue Cheese (or Gruyere)
4 slices of Prosciutto
Black pepper
Chopped chives

Method
• Wash pumpkin. Carefully cut top off pumpkin to create a lid. Retain the lid.
• Place pumpkin on a flat surface and scoop out seeds and fibrous flesh, keeping shell intact, then set aside.
• Wash red pepper, slice and remove seeds, then dice finely.
• Roughly chop Cashel blue cheese (or cheese of your choice).
• Wrap pumpkin in baking foil and place in large baking tray.
• Fry or oven-bake prosciutto slices slowly until crisp.
• In a medium-sized bowl, combine the diced red pepper, thick double cream and black pepper.
• Place all ingredients in the scooped-out pumpkin shell and top with 25g butter. Replace the lid, fold over foil and place in a preheated oven at approximately 200C or 400F depending on your oven temperatures. Bake for 11/2 to 2 hours. Remove the lid 15 minutes before end of cooking time.
• Carefully remove from oven and top with chopped chives.

Foodie Explorers Maureen Clark Pumpkin Recipe

Roasted Pumpkin with Cashel Blue Cheese Cream

There's more to pumpkins than making lanterns, Roasted Pumpkin with Cashel Blue Cheese Cream

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Ingredients

1 Medium sized pumpkin orange flesh
1 large red pepper
350 ml thick double cream
25 g good quality butter
200 g Cashel Blue Cheese or Gruyere
4 slices of Prosciutto
Black pepper
Chopped chives

Instructions

Wash pumpkin. Carefully cut top off pumpkin to create a lid. Retain the lid.
Place pumpkin on a flat surface and scoop out seeds and fibrous flesh, keeping shell intact, then set aside.
Wash red pepper, slice and remove seeds, then dice finely.
Roughly chop Cashel blue cheese (or cheese of your choice).
Wrap pumpkin in baking foil and place in large baking tray.
Fry or oven-bake prosciutto slices slowly until crisp.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine the diced red pepper, thick double cream and black pepper.
Place all ingredients in the scooped-out pumpkin shell and top with 25g butter. Replace the lid, fold over foil and place in a preheated oven at approximately 200C or 400F depending on your oven temperatures. Bake for 11/2 to 2 hours. Remove the lid 15 minutes before end of cooking time.
Carefully remove from oven and top with chopped chives.