By Olivia Critoph, Deputy Food Editor
Carving out a pumpkin at halloween is of course a lovely activity, but it’s always a bit sad when you have to throw the majority of the insides in the bin-what a waste! Instead, why not try cooking with those insides.
One way in which you can save some of the pumpkin is by roasting the pumpkin seeds. Before roasting you need to clean the seeds and boil them for 10 minutes. Then to roast, add a little oil, salt, pepper and paprika and put them in the oven for about 45 minutes on a low heat. They work great as a topping on soups and salads.
The whole middle section of the pumpkin is the biggest part wasted, but you can use the flesh to make a smooth, thick soup. Firstly, you need to roast the insides for about 30 minutes on 200C. Meanwhile, you can fry som garlic and onion. Pumpkin soup tastes great if its infused with some thai flavours, so you could also add some ginger and lemongrass to the pan. Once fryed, add the roasted pumpkin and some vegetable stock to the pan and leave to simmer for around 5 minutes. After 5 minutes whizz all the ingredients together, to create a deliciously creamy pumpkin soup.
You can also use the flesh to make pumpkin burgers. Firstly you need to fry some onion, peppers and mushrooms and then blend them altogether. Then grate your pumpkin flesh, and add it to your vegetable puree, as well as some flour, and mix all the ingredients together before putting them in the fridge for around 30 minutes. Finally you can separate the mixture into balls, flatten them and fry on both sides until golden brown, creating a delicious burger!
Image: Epigram Food/Olivia Critoph
Feature image: Epigram Food/Olivia Critoph
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