Squash is the general word for a plant which is part of the cucurbit family, closely related to courgettes, melons and cucumbers that all grow in a similar way. Pumpkin is a type of winter squash native to North America. Summer squash include crookneck (or Tromboncino or Trombolino D’Albenga): they have more tender skins and don’t store for as long as Winter Squash, which include pumpkins and butternut squash. These are ready to harvest in autumn.
Pumpkins are viewed as vegetables, but pumpkin is scientifically a fruit, as it contains seeds. That said, it’s nutritionally more similar to vegetables than fruits. Beyond its delicious taste, pumpkin is nutritious and linked to many health benefits
If you want to grow varieties which store well over the winter, Kings Seeds recommends: Butterbush, Bush Baby, Waltham Butternut, Dills Atlantic Giant, Jack O’Lantern, Crown Prince, Marina di Chioggia, Musqee de Provence, Queensland Blue, Turks Turban, Golden Hubbard.
Raja, Lime Tree Road plotholder, displaying his pumpkins at the WEGA 2021 Show
Nutritional value . (Information from: www.healthline.com/nutrition/pumpkin)
Pumpkin has an impressive nutrient profile – high in vitamins and minerals and low in calories (as it’s 94% water).
One cup of cooked pumpkin (245 grams) contains 49 calories
- Fat: 0.2 grams Protein: 2 grams Carbs: 12 grams Fibre: 3 grams
- Vitamin A: 245% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) Vitamin C: 19% of the RDI
- Potassium: 16% of the RDI Copper: 11% of the RDI
- Manganese: 11% of the RDI Vitamin B2: 11% of the RDI
- Vitamin E: 10% of the RDI Iron: 8% of the RDI
- Small amounts of magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, folate and several B vitamins.
Pumpkin seeds are also edible, nutritious and linked to numerous health benefits.
Health benefits
- Reducing risks of disease and cancer: Pumpkin’s high antioxidant content (eg alpha-carotene and beta-carotene) helps to neutralize free radicals, stopping them from damaging body cells. So they can protect skin against sun damage and lower the risk of cancers such as stomach, throat, pancreas, breast, as well as eye diseases .
- Strengthening immunity: Its high beta-carotene content can help strengthen your immune system and fight infections
- Heart health: Its high levels of potassium, vitamin C and fibre can help lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of strokes. The high levels of anti-oxidants may protect bad cholesterol from oxidizing and restricting blood vessels, so benefiting your heart.
- Healthy skin: the very high levels of carotenoids (which your body turns into vitamin A), create a natural sunblock. Also, a variety of antioxidants in pumpkins can boost your skin’s defenses against UV rays and the vitamin C makes collagen, a protein to keep skin strong and healthy.
- Weight maintenance and weight loss:its low calorie contentmeans that hearty helpings won’t pile on the pounds.
Who Shouldn’t Eat Pumpkin?
- Pumpkin is very healthy and considered safe for most.
- However, some people may experience allergies after eating pumpkin. It’s also considered mildly diuretic, which means eating a lot of pumpkin may induce a “water pill”-like reaction, increasing the amount of water and salt your body expels through urine. This effect may harm people taking certain medicines such as lithium. Diuretics can impair your body’s ability to remove lithium, causing serious side effects.
Cooking with pumpkin
Pumpkin is delicious, versatile and easy to add to your diet. It can be used in savory dishes like roasted veggies, soups or pasta dishes, and works just as well in sweet dishes such as cakes, loaves, custards, pies and pancakes. You can also eat the seeds which are very nutritious – full of vitamins and minerals and a great source of fibre.
Pumpkins have a very tough skin, and needs slicing carefully, or use a potato peeler. Once cut, scoop out the seeds and any stringy parts, then slice the pumpkin into wedges.
Pumpkin seeds
After scooping out the seeds, wash off the stringy bits, and put aside a few to grow next year. Boil the rest for 10 minutes to soften, then drain and dry on a paper towel. Finally toss with a little oil, spread out on a baking sheet and place them in a low oven for around 45 minutes (about 120°C) until they are crisp and golden brown. If you want to add a bit of flavour, sprinkle over salt, pepper, paprika, or whatever takes your fancy when you add the oil.
Main dishes: How to cook pumpkin:
The easiest way to cook pumpkin is to season it with salt and pepper and roast it in the oven.
Add diced pumpkin to pasta, roast and serve with sausages or simply serve lightly spiced as a side.
A simple pumpkin curry can be made with onions, chillis and tomatoes.
Or use coconut milk, fresh ginger, chickpeas and bananas to bring in other flavours and textures.
Butternut squash or other varieties of squash can be used – Crown Prince squash with deep orange flesh is very tasty.
For a more fancy dish, cut the pumpkin in half and use it as a container to serve a curry or other sauce. Or roast the pumpkin whole: You can scoop out the flesh and mix it in with the sauce or leave it there and let the sauce penetrate it as it cooks – a garlic cream works well.
Starters – Soup
Soft pumpkin flesh blends easily into a thick, velvety soup. Start by cooking an onion gently in oil, add your pumpkin chunks, stock, salt and pepper and simmer till the pumpkin has softened. Mash or liquidise and add cream if you like. For an Asian twist add flavours such as lemongrass and ginger. For a more intense flavour, first roast the squash and then add other ingredients to the soup pan. Or add some pancetta as contrast.
Variations:
- Drizzle garlic oil in circles over your soup, or dot with fresh green pesto just before serving
- At the end of cooking, drizzle over some crème fraiche or natural yogurt or crumbled cheese
- Toast a mixture of nuts and seeds in a dry pan until starting to caramelise at the edges then sprinkle over the top of your soup. Hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds or linseeds all work well.
- The crispiness of melba toast makes a great texture contrast with smooth, blended soup. Make your own by cutting very thin slices of your favourite bread and toasting until crisp and golden. Dip into the soup like bread, or break into shards to sprinkle on the top, like rough croutons.
Grate into cake or cupcakes
To make a moist and nutritious cake or bake, pumpkin is a perfect addition with its sweet flesh when grated. For variety, add cinnamon for a spicy flavour, or use honey as well as sugar. If you have a carrot or courgette cake recipe, try pumpkin instead. Some pumpkins can be too wet when grated, but you can squeeze out the excess liquid before using (weigh the squeezed pumpkin for cakes). Also keep an eye on it when baking – the added moisture may mean it needs a little longer in the oven.
Recipes
Pumpkin Pancakes
These make for a very satisfying but healthy dessert. They are easy to prepare with a blender and freeze well if you want to prepare in advance.
Ingredients for 2 servings
- 1 cup of oats (100g)
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup of pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
- Cooking oil or spray
Method
- Pour all the ingredients in a blender and blend on high until you get a pancake light batter.
- Use cooking spray or oil (you can use coconut oil or vegetable oil) in your frying pan; heat over medium heat.
- Once the oil is melted, pour the batter into the pan using 1/4 cup for each pancake.
- A Good rule of thumb: Flip pancakes after bubbles rise to surface and bottoms brown. Cook until both sides are lightly brown and then serve hot, with maple syrup or honey if liked.
Pumpkin Pasta Sauce
If you like thick sauces but want to avoid using cream or cheese, use pumpkin instead. This vegan pasta sauce recipe is good for anyone.
Ingredients
1 kilo of pumpkin flesh
4 tomatoes
200g of spinach
3 cloves of garlic
3 sprigs of rosemary
500ml water
1 vegetable stock cube/1 tablespoon of vegetable bouillon
1 red chilli
Method
- Chop the pumpkin flesh into 1 cm pieces.
- Chop the garlic finely.
- Place all the ingredients apart from the spinach into a heavy bottomed large frying pan.
- Place the lid on and leave for 30 minutes on a low heat.
- When the pumpkin is soft, stir the mix, and turn off the heat and cover.
- Chop the spinach and add to the sauce to wilt.
- Add to your pasta or gnocchi garnished with crispy sage or rosemary.
Pumpkin or courgette curry
By Saj at St.Margarets Community Hub
This recipe is adaptable. You can use pumpkins, butternut squash, courgettes or marrows, and we’ve made it using allotment produce at a Cook Together, Eat Together session.
Cooking time Preparation: 20 mins Cook: 20 mins Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 3 green chillies
- 1 tomato
- 2-3 courgettes or ½ large pumpkin
- ½ teaspoon of turmeric
- Salt to taste
- Handful of coriander to garnish
- Rice or naan bread, to serve with curry
Method
- Heat the oil in a pan, then gently fry the onions for a few minutes until soft
- Peel the pumpkin and cut into chunks. Young courgettes don’t need peeling.
- Add chillies, tomato, turmeric, salt and courgettes or pumpkin.
- Simmer on low heat until cooked through
- Cook rice (2 parts water to 1 part rice) or warm up naan bread
- When the curry is nearly done, dry fry it to take out excess liquid.
- Garnish with chopped coriander
Pumpkin curry with chickpeas
Preparation: 20 minutes Cook: 20 minutes Serves 4
A vegetarian dinner party dish which stands alone as a vegan main course or as a complex side dish perfect served with spiced roast meat or fish. It’s dairy free and can be frozen if using vegetable stock
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
- 3 tablespoons curry paste
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 3 large stalks lemongrass (if available), bashed with the back of a knife
- 6 cardamom pods
- 1 tablespoon mistard seed
- 1 piece pumpkin or a small squash (about 1kg)
- 250ml vegetable stock
- 400ml can coconut milk (use reduced fat if preferred)
- 400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 limes
- large handful mint leaves
- naan bread, to serve
Method
- Heat the oil in a sauté pan, then gently fry the curry paste with the onions, lemongrass, cardamom and mustard seed for 2-3 mins until fragrant. Stir the pumpkin or squash into the pan and coat in the paste, then pour in the stock and coconut milk. Bring everything to a simmer, add the chickpeas, then cook for about 10 mins until the pumpkin is tender.
- Squeeze the juice of one lime into the curry, then cut the other lime into wedges to serve alongside. Just before serving, tear over mint leaves, then bring to the table with the lime wedges and warm naan breads.
If you make double quantities and want to freeze half, cool the curry after step 1. Use within a month after freezing.
Pumpkin pie
This is a traditional American treat – it’s pumpkin with spices in a sweet shortcrust pastry tart case. Takes longer to prepare and cook than a loaf or cake.
Preparation: 40 mins Cook: 1 hr, 30 mins Plus chilling Serves 8
Ingredients
- 750g/1lb 10oz pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks
- 350g sweet shortcrust pastry
- plain flour, for dusting
- 140g caster sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh nutmeg, grated
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 25g butter, melted
- 175ml milk
- 1 tablespoon icing sugar
Method
- Place the pumpkin in a large saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Cover with a lid and simmer for 15 mins or until tender. Drain pumpkin; let cool.
- Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas
- Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and use it to line a 22cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Chill for 15 mins. Line the pastry with baking parchment and baking beans, then bake for 15 mins. Remove the beans and paper, and cook for a further 10 mins until the base is pale golden and biscuity. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
- Increase oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Push the cooled pumpkin through a sieve into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, salt, nutmeg and half the cinnamon. Mix in the beaten eggs, melted butter and milk, then add to the pumpkin purée and stir to combine. Pour into the tart shell and cook for 10 mins, then reduce the temperature to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Continue to bake for 35-40 mins until the filling has just set.
- Leave to cool, then remove the pie from the tin. Mix the remaining cinnamon with the icing sugar and dust over the pie. Serve chilled.