Hard to resist this photo!
It was hard to resist the thing itself!
I bought this beauty in Castres market on Saturday morning from a young woman’s stall that was covered in pumpkins of all sizes.
I liked shape of the 2e too!
She told me not to peel it–just scoop out the seeds and cut it into chunks.
The skin and flesh contain vitamin A, flavonoid poly-phenolic antioxidants such as leutin, xanthin, and carotenes in abundance; in other words health giving properties–good things!
This idea is an aside in the Riverford Farm Cookbook (a treasure trove).
for two
1 smallish pumpkin–about 1 kilo/2lbs–quartered, seeded and cut into chunks
1 tsp cumin powder
salt and pepper
1 red chili–chopped
1 garlic clove–chopped
2 tblsps olive oil
roasted pumpkin seeds
heat the oven to 200C/400F
- Put the pumpkin pieces in a bowl and spoon in the olive oil.
- Turn them over thoroughly in the oil.
- Sprinkle over the cumin powder and season with salt and pepper–mix again.
- Empty the contents of the bowl onto a shallow oven tray.
- Bake this for about 20 minutes or until the pumpkin pieces are tender.
- Then take the tray out of the oven and sprinkle the garlic and chili over and cook for another five minutes.
- Serve with dollops of humous and some roasted pumpkin seeds sprinkled over.
Meredith tells me most pumpkins sold in America are carved up for jack o’lanterns–not supper!
Happy Halloween Everyone!
Robin Ellis 
Happy Halloween to you too !!
We have here in Belgium allerheiligen (this Thursday)-tout les saints-all saints.Soon it will be Winter now, I will look out for Summer (lol).Enjoy the pumpkins nice lantern by the way !Hughs.
I love anything pumpkin, so this is a veritable Halloween treat! Thank you, Robin!
I think there are more people EATING the pumpkins then ever there were. I see them in stores and signs indicating how good they are to eat. Always good to have a recipe for them. Thanx!
I think they are EATING pumpkins a bit more than in the past. The signs that are placed with them make me believe that. Its always good to have a recipe and for someone who loves cumin its a big plus. Thanx for this. BOO!
No better pie for Thanksgiving than one made from FRESH pumpkin!!
Looks yummy – Happy Halloween!! xx
Thank you, Robin, for the name of that Riverford Farm cookbook. I’m ordering one for my sister for Christmas! And I’ll remember to do more than jack-o-lanterns with pumpkins from now on. ;-D
42 years ago, my new husband and I were invited to his grandparents for Thanksgiving dinner. They had immigrated around 1920 to the US from the Ukraine (part of the Soviet Union back then) and his grandmother was a wonderful cook….stuffed cabbage rolls, delicious soups, homemade breads. Therefore, I was surprised when my husband warned me not to eat Grandma’s pumpkin pie. After an extraordinary meal, she brought out a lovely pie and was hurt when he insisted he couldn’t eat another bite. She protested that it was made from one of the pumpkins she’d grown in her own garden. I accepted a piece and took a big bite. I’ve never actually tasted library paste, but that pie tasted exactly like I would assume library paste would taste. I got the first bite down and then picked and pushed and nibbled on the crust until I could slip the remainders into the garbage can. Pumpkin pie sans nutmeg and cinnamon is NOT something for which you can be thankful!
That being said, I am intrigued by the idea of using cumin and garlic as pumpkin seasonings. I’m more a “savory” than a “sweet” girl, anyway!
So, it looks like you are going to eat the skin? I wonder also is the pumpkin you bought to cook for dinner the same variety as the jack-o-pumpkin?
Beautiful Jack-O-Lantern bye the way. Thanks for the cheerful photo.
Funny, I just made some humous – nearly tore the back of my throat out with the garlic and olive oil but oh boy, does it make the supermarket variety look insipid. Don’t like pulses normally but chickpeas are scrummy!
This marks a year since I found your blog – and was inspired to make a soup from pumpkin and chestnuts, innovating from other soup recipes you’d given. Pumpkins are divine, such a shame to cut them up for lanterns and throw out the meat.
I’ve seen this variety of pumpkin referred to as a “golden nugget” pumpkin. It is well named! You get the taste of chestnuts without all the hard work. It makes amazing soup and it’s a great vegetable to go with meat, especially gamey meats. And now I have a new golden nugget recipe to try. Thank you.
Yes, Tina, you could be right except that the skin of “Golden Nugget” is smooth and yellow. I would be inclined to say that Robin’s pumpkin is a rare French pumpkin variety Cucurbita maxima Potimarron so named for its rich chestnut flavour, known in Japan as Hokkaido, 1-2 kilo fruits, edible skin. One can plant them with 1 m spacing. Fully grown within 13 weeks. App. 7kg. per plant.
Hey….where is the HALLOWEEN spooky photo of Little Ben against a pumpkin?
Meredith is correct. Our pumpkins are used for Jack O’Larnterns over here. I think special sugar pumpkins are used for the pies. (I may be wrong) Ina Garten- one of my favorite celebrity chefs -tells us NEVER to use fresh pumpkin for pumpkin pies but to use canned pumpkin.I’m guessing those Jack O’Lantern pumpkins we grow here aren’t too tasty. I am wondering if the one you have cooked with tasts different? I will have to consult Martha Stewart. LOL. I love the look of pumpkins but have never been a huge fan of the taste. I can take it or leave it. However- the use of cumin, garlic, red chili, olive oil, humus and pumpkin seeds sounds DELICIOUS!
Hope all of my east coast Poldarkians are ok….We had quite a storm in Maryland! My neurotic siamese, Roxy, hid from me for a day and a half- as soon as the winds started up. She surfaced when they died down. Lord Calvert just wanted to cuddle with me the whole time. Freaky scary winds. I drank a lot of wine when the winds were gusting , praying a giant oak tree didn’t come crashing on me.
DC and Feds shut down for two days. Glad it’s over. Ocean City Maryland was under water and lots of things demolished.
I am grateful we did not have to suffer Delaware, NJ nor NY’s damage. What I saw was scarey enough! God help those poor people in their recovery.
I sure won’t forget this freaky “Frankenstorm” any time soon.
How do they celebrate Halloween in the south of France? It has always been my favourite holiday. We even have a decorated pumpkin cake, caramel apples and chocolate bars out a work. I have my halloween pins on.
I will never outgrow Halloween! Happy Halloween every one!
The cemetery a coté to us is always full of flowers–chrysanthemums usually. Relatives visit tomorrow–Toussaint–All Saints–paying their respects. It’s touching and something I never witnessed in the UK.
There was the odd witches hat on view this morning at the Realmont Market and plenty of pumpkins–meant for eating though–most of them. Large and small and not all orange/red. Squashes are very popular here.
Thanks Tina and Odette for the pumpkin variety advice. Would like to try to grow the Hokkaido.
French Potimarrons or Hokkaidas as they are known in Japan like all Cucurbita genus plants prefer a well worked soil with plenty of compost or humus in it. They are troublefree plants but like water. Plant the seeds in the Spring when the danger of frosts is over. Happy gardening, Penny!
Happy halloween!
love pumpkin soup – cut , de seed and peel pumpkin and fry with 1 onion and 2 garlic cloves, add veg stock – i usually guess, a tin of toms and a tspn of cinnamon and salt and pepper. When the pumpkin is tender – I blitz it and add cooked rice. really warming.
Robin, I tried the recipe with a standard pumpkin. It turned out great!
Hooray, Cornell!
Pumpkin can be made into a curry. Just use a basic vegetable curry recipy and add the pumpkin. Vegetables of any kind can be made into a curry for that specific vegetable or fruit i.e plantain curry. I believe a vegetable curry gravy has a more delicate flavor then the curry for poultry, fish and meat. Non fat sour cream can also be added to curries to take the place of whole milk or Ghee. All the above learned from my father who is an amazing cook.