By Sunday morning, millions of carved pumpkins will be sitting on doorsteps with their candles burnt out. Most of them end up in the bin, which is a shame, because the same vegetable that made a great lantern on Halloween night can also become soup, bread, roasted seeds and even food for the garden. With a little planning, this weekend’s pumpkin can feed you well into next week.
Can you still eat a carved pumpkin?
Sometimes, yes, but be honest with yourself. A pumpkin that was carved on Friday evening, lit for one night and brought inside on Saturday is usually fine to cook if the flesh is firm, smells fresh and shows no mould, slime or soft dark patches. Cut away the scorched area around the candle and a generous rim around every carved edge, then rinse and cook it the same day. A pumpkin that has been sitting outside for a week, especially in damp weather, belongs on the compost heap instead.
The easiest trick is to plan ahead: if you buy two pumpkins, carve one and keep the second whole for the kitchen. Whole pumpkins stored somewhere cool and dry can last for weeks, so there is no rush.
Start with the seeds
Pumpkin seeds are the quickest win. Pull them out of the stringy pulp, rinse them in a sieve and pat them dry with a tea towel. Toss them with a spoonful of oil and a pinch of salt, spread them on a tray and roast at around 160 °C for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring once, until they are golden and crisp. Smoked paprika, cinnamon with a little sugar, or chilli and lime all work well. They keep for several days in a jar and make a far better snack than crisps.
Roast first, decide later
If you are not sure what to cook yet, simply roast the flesh. Cut it into wedges or chunks, drizzle with oil and bake at 200 °C until soft and slightly caramelised at the edges. Roasted pumpkin can be mashed, puréed, frozen in portions or turned into almost anything over the following days. Roasting also concentrates the flavour, which helps because carving varieties tend to be milder and more watery than the smaller cooking pumpkins.
Three easy ideas for the week
A simple soup. Soften an onion and a little garlic, add roasted pumpkin, stock and a pinch of nutmeg or curry powder, simmer for ten minutes and blend. A swirl of cream or coconut milk and a handful of those roasted seeds on top make it feel special.
Pumpkin pasta sauce. Blend roasted pumpkin with a splash of pasta water, grated cheese and sage fried in butter. It coats pasta beautifully and is ready in the time it takes to boil the water.
Breakfast and baking. Stir pumpkin purée into porridge with cinnamon, or swap it for some of the banana in your usual banana-bread recipe. Muffins, pancakes and even waffles welcome a cup of purée.
Nothing left to waste
Whatever you cannot eat, from the stringy pulp to the skin of an old lantern, can go into the compost, where it breaks down quickly. Some gardeners also cut leftover pumpkins into pieces and leave them in a quiet corner, where birds and insects enjoy them. Just avoid putting out anything painted, glittered or treated with wax.
Halloween only lasts one night, but a pumpkin can keep giving for days. This year, try turning the lantern into lunch before it turns into rubbish.
