Pumpkin

Dewhirstn

Afternoon everyone.

I've been trying to like pumpkin, but so far I just can't, it's watery, gluey and bland, I've tried it in soups, stews and roasted but I can't find a recipe which I think is actually nice. I've even tried different kinds and the results are all the same, I really want to like it, I love seasonal veg and it being so robust and cheap it seems a great thrift veg.

Do any of you wonderful lot have any healthy pumpkin recipes which have gone down well at your house?

Thanks x

t14cy_t

pop a few tablespoons of cooked pumkin into a victoria sandwich mix with a teaspoon of cinnamon! my kids never new! and tastes lovely and moist. xx

maman

Lots in the news today about how much pumpkin gets wasted for making Halloween lanterns.


I was wondering whether it's possible to dice and open freeze small cubes of the flesh for adding to Bolognese, chilli, casseroles and stews to pad them out and add to the veg content. Then you'd just be tasting the sauce.


I do much the same with the chopped inner stalks of broccoli.

Spendless

Years ago in Canada I tried Pumpkin pie for the first time, when I was really excited to find it, my husband's Aunt warned me the taste was more to do with the flavourings and spices added then the pumpkin itself which was bland.

I think if you're going to try it, you're going to need to add spices to whatever you're doing with it.
.

fuddle

I add ginger to roasted squash soup and will be trying the same with my pumpkins. Allotment grown myself in manure so I'm hoping the taste element will be a little less bland.

I have made pumpkin pie in the past and will be doing it again at some point. Interestingly pumpkin pie tinned mix in America is usually pureed squash, not pumpkin.

timehastoldme

Is this the orange ones? I always got the impression they were grown for size rather than flavour. The seasonal squash in Aldi (39p on super six) are good. We used the kabocha to make squash and lentil curry this week. One squash has made a good half a dozen lunches:

https://pinchofyum.com/kabocha-squash-lentil-curry

suki1964

I find most squashes to be totally tasteless so I roast them in chunks coated with flavourings such as cumin and coriander before making soup, or adding another veg

Dewhirstn

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I'm glad it's not just me that finds them bland.

I'll have to try putting them into other things, like ragu's and stews.

I actually bought a few different kinds of squash from the Aldi super 6 at the weekend, and so far the ones I've tasted have been equally as bland, although with a better texture.

Prinzessilein

Pumpkin works well with 'added' flavour....I love pumpkin soup - with warming curry spices....or mashed pumpkin as a veggie with LOADS of black pepper (and a pinch of hinger to bring out the natural sweetness)

trailingspouse

I was looking at the pumpkins in Aldi yesterday - huge pumpkin, enough to feed the street, for £1.99. Or a smaller 'family sized' one for 99p. And all likely to go to 'waste' as lanterns.



And I love pumpkin soup, although I've never made it myself.



So really I ought to buy one and make some soup...

Out,_Vile_Jelly

The pumpkins grown for supermarket sales this time of year are cultivars specifically chosen for being easy to carve, not for flavour. Other types of squashes are less pretty, but more tasty.