Pumpkins

Star123

I was looking at pumpkins on asda and noticed you can get carving or edible pumpkins and was wondering what is the difference? Can you use carving ones for cooking? Also does anyone know the cheapest place for pumpkins or are they about the same price everywhere?
Thanks

dlusman

All pumpkins should be edible. The ones grown specifically for carving are generally tougher and dont taste as good , but should be okay cooked and blended into a soup

Star123

thanks, I've never made pumpkin soup before so fingers crossed it turns out ok.

Steve059

PUMPKIN SOUP

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

500g of pumpkin
1 clove of garlic
½ an onion
1½ tablespoons of oil
½ a tablespoon of lemon juice
½ a teaspoon of mixed herbs
1 vegetable stock cube
500ml of water

METHOD

Cut the pumpkin into quarters, remove the peel and seeds, and chop it into 2cm (1 inch) pieces. Peel the garlic and cut it into quarters. Peel the onion, cut it in half, chop one half into 2cm (1 inch) pieces and save the other half.

Put the oil into a saucepan on a medium heat. Fry the garlic and onions for about 2 minutes until the onion is soft but not coloured. Stir frequently to stop it sticking.

Add the pumpkin and continue to cook for another 3 minutes. Stir frequently to stop it sticking.

Add the herbs, lemon juice, stock cube and water. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat until it is just boiling. Put the lid on the saucepan and continue to cook for another 20 minutes until the pumpkin is soft.

If you have a food processor, put the soup in it and blend it to the desired consistency. If you have a hand blender, put it in the soup and blend it to the desired consistency. If you don’t have a food processor or hand blender, use a potato masher, press the soup through a sieve with the back of a spoon, or leave it lumpy. If you used a food processor, rinse out the saucepan and put the soup back into the saucepan.

Put the saucepan on a low heat and reheat the soup gently.

ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

Use butternut squash instead of pumpkin.

Add ¼ of a teaspoon of ground ginger, at the same time as the herbs and lemon juice.

Garnish with either a swirl of either crème fraîche, fromage frais, natural yoghurt or single cream, or a sprinkle of chopped chives or parsley.

Vampires should, of course, omit the garlic.

Chris25

Large pumpkins were £3 each or BOGOF in tesco.

I think the carving ones are grown especially for size and as dlusman says, generally have tougher skins - still fine for cooking though.

Pink_Teddy

Steve059 wrote: »

PUMPKIN SOUP

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

500g of pumpkin
1 clove of garlic
½ an onion
1½ tablespoons of oil
½ a tablespoon of lemon juice
½ a teaspoon of mixed herbs
1 vegetable stock cube
500ml of water

METHOD

Cut the pumpkin into quarters, remove the peel and seeds, and chop it into 2cm (1 inch) pieces. Peel the garlic and cut it into quarters. Peel the onion, cut it in half, chop one half into 2cm (1 inch) pieces and save the other half.

Put the oil into a saucepan on a medium heat. Fry the garlic and onions for about 2 minutes until the onion is soft but not coloured. Stir frequently to stop it sticking.

Add the pumpkin and continue to cook for another 3 minutes. Stir frequently to stop it sticking.

Add the herbs, lemon juice, stock cube and water. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat until it is just boiling. Put the lid on the saucepan and continue to cook for another 20 minutes until the pumpkin is soft.

If you have a food processor, put the soup in it and blend it to the desired consistency. If you have a hand blender, put it in the soup and blend it to the desired consistency. If you don’t have a food processor or hand blender, use a potato masher, press the soup through a sieve with the back of a spoon, or leave it lumpy. If you used a food processor, rinse out the saucepan and put the soup back into the saucepan.

Put the saucepan on a low heat and reheat the soup gently.

ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

Use butternut squash instead of pumpkin.

Add ¼ of a teaspoon of ground ginger, at the same time as the herbs and lemon juice.

Garnish with either a swirl of either crème fraîche, fromage frais, natural yoghurt or single cream, or a sprinkle of chopped chives or parsley.

Vampires should, of course, omit the garlic.

Thanks for this, can I just ask, how much pumpkin do you get from a pumpkin? Haha... you say you need 500g, how much would you get from one pumpkin? Obviously it will vary, I'm not that stupid, but on average?

I might make it with a carving pumpkin :-) I'm glad for this thread as I've been wondering the same thing :-)

Steve059

In my experience, the average pumpkin gives much more than 500g.

As I live on my own, my recipes are usually for 2, ie. 2 x 250ml bowls. If required, just scale everything up.

I usually make some after Halloween, when the supermarkets are selling off all the leftover pumpkins cheap.

Pink_Teddy

Great thanks, I will make it after Halloween :-)

dlusman

Steve059 wrote: »

remove the peel and seeds,

Though you will still need to peel the pumpkin , if your blender is powerful enough you can just throw everything else in including the seeds.

Alternatively , save the seeds and have them toasted
http://www.foodnetwork.co.uk/video/how-roast-pumpkin-seeds.html

Or if you have a garden , try drying out a few seeds , and planting them in the spring ( though be warned that they take up a lot of space - and they will need initiatially propagating on a sunny ledge/greenhouse)

dlusman

In Sainsburys today

Large pumpkins £3 each
Small pumpkins £2 each or 2 for £3

Chris25

if you have a look on here, you can see that you can use the pumpkin as it's own tureen http://www.allaboutpumpkins.com/perfect.html


I think i posted about this with photos a few years ago but can't find my post - probably so old it's been deleted.