Stuffed Pumpkin
This could be made as a vegan dish, or you can add meat if you’d like to. The stuffing can consist of whatever you like in terms of ingredients and flavour.
For example, you could choose from rice, quinoa or puy lentils, herbs, and spices such as, cumin, chilli, coriander, turmeric, rosemary, thyme, and sage, and add extras like fennel, apple, cranberries, tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, feta, walnuts, or pecans.
Of course, you can add meat too – perhaps some chorizo, bacon, or lardons for a salty burst of flavour.
This is a great dish for a dinner party as it really makes a wonderful looking centrepiece.
Spiced Pumpkin Seeds
Waste not want not! The seeds of a pumpkin make a superb snack so be sure to save them up after all your pumpkin carving!
You can make any spice mix of your preference and it’s as simple as throwing it all together and roasting until brown. Herbs and spices that work well include paprika, oregano, chilli, salt, pepper, and cumin.
You can, of course, make this a sweet snack by adding a drizzle of honey and using spices such as cinnamon, star anise, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger.
Thai Pumpkin Soup
If you’re going mad on the pumpkin carving, you’ll also need a way to use all of that lovely pumpkin flesh!
Soup is an ideal choice as it’s so simple and easy to make – literally cooking and blending ingredients with little effort required!
Whilst you’ll see many classically spiced pumpkin soup recipes out there, adding Thai spicing can be a superb way to create an interestingly light and fragrant soup, perfect for a warming starter for any dinner party.
Pumpkin Tagine
Pumpkin is the perfect addition to this Moroccan-style stew. Typically this dish consists of spiced meat such as lamb but venison also works really well, slow cooked together with vegetables like onions, carrots and usually sweet potato.
However, pumpkin makes a great addition, or you could use it instead of the sweet potato. It is a naturally sweet yet savoury dish and why pumpkin marries so well.
Pumpkin Spice Pancakes
Pumpkin is ideal for deserts and is typically used in cake and pie recipes. However, adding naturally sweet pumpkin puree to your pancake mix makes for a wholesome and filling breakfast or dessert option.
Add your choice of spices such as cinnamon or nutmeg and serve with toasted pecans, butterscotch sauce, and lashings of whipped cream – pure indulgence!
