Every year, millions of Pumpkins are carved into faces, creatures or sports team logos for Halloween. Eventually, and in most cases, these pumpkins end up in the trashcan after rotting away and smelling up the front porch. Pumpkins have a lot more use beyond staple Halloween decoration. Pumpkins have health benefits such as being high in vitamin A, which is crucial for vision, skin health, and the immune system. They are also a great source of antioxidants, which help protect you from cancer and skin damage. So, before you start carving away your pumpkins, here are some things you can do with your pumpkins before and after carving them. An important disclaimer is that not all pumpkins you buy at the store are edible and are solely meant for carving. Before buying a pumpkin, check for any disclaimer or indication that it is solely a carved pumpkin.
Pumpkin Puree
It’s no surprise here that pumpkins can be used for, well, pumpkin puree. Usually when we make pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving or some other time, we usually use a canned pumpkin puree you find at the store. While this is always going to be more convenient and less time-consuming, it is not as nutritionally beneficial or tasty as using natural pumpkin for your puree. Fresh pumpkin contains more fiber and Vitamin C than canned pumpkin. It also contains no additives, which means no excess sodium or cholesterol you might find in canned pumpkins.
To Prepare Pumpkin puree:
Cut a fresh pumpkin in half. Scoop out and set aside seeds and stringy portions. Leave skin on and cut pumpkin into chunks. Measure out 1 ½ pounds for this recipe to yield 2 cups of mashed, cooked pumpkin.
Place pumpkin chunks in saucepan over medium heat with 1 inch water; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until tender, for about 30 minutes. Drain and cool. Remove and discard peel. Return pumpkin to the saucepan and mash with a potato masher or use a food mill until smooth.
Pumpkin can be used for a wide variety of foods that are called pumpkin. This ranges from drinks like spiced pumpkin cider, desserts like pumpkin cheesecake bars, and entrees like pumpkin curry.
Cooked pumpkin seeds
Every time you carve a pumpkin, you always gut and clean it out beforehand. What you’re cleaning out is usually the “gunk” and seeds. Many people just throw these seeds away; however, these seeds are not only edible but highly nutritious if prepared properly. By cooking pumpkin seeds, you can create a snack that is delicious and nutritious. Pumpkin seeds happen to be the number one food source for magnesium, coming in at 156mg per ounce. You can either eat pumpkin seeds alone with some seasoning of choice or throw them in a recipe to enhance its flavor.
Written by Connor Hall and Elizabeth C. Shephard
Here’s a great recipe that incorporates pumpkin seeds:
Black Bean Dip with Roasted Squash, Garlic, Pumpkin Seeds & Chipotles
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 2.5 cups
Ingredients
- ½ cup raw pumpkin seeds
- 1 small head of garlic
- 1 small butternut squash, halved lengthwise (see notes)
- ½ cup olive oil, divided
- sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup cooked black beans (drained and rinsed if using canned)
- 2 chipotles in adobo + 1 tablespoon adobo sauce (or more/less to taste)
- 2 teaspoons coconut aminos (or 1 teaspoon tamari)
- 1 ½ teaspoons sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
- Garnishes
- olive oil
- finely diced red onion
- pumpkin seeds
- chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and grab two small-medium baking sheets. You can line both with parchment paper if you like, but it’s not 100% necessary.
- Spread the pumpkin seeds out on one of the baking sheets and pop it in the oven. Roast the pumpkin seeds until golden brown and toasty-smelling, for about 5-6 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool.
- Cut the top ¼ inch off of the head of garlic, exposing the cloves inside.
- Set the halved squash, cut sides facing up, on the other baking sheet. Grab a piece of aluminum foil big enough to wrap the bulb of garlic. Set that down on the baking sheet too and place the garlic bulb on top.
- Drizzle the cut squash and the exposed top of the garlic bulb with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season both with salt and pepper. Wrap the garlic bulb up tight with the foil and turn the squash over so that the cut side is facing down. Transfer this baking sheet to the oven and roast until squash is tender, for about 40 minutes. Let the squash and garlic cool a bit.
- Once it’s cool enough to handle, scoop out the seeds of the squash and discard. Then, scoop out and measure roughly 1 cup of the cooked squash. Remove the bulb of garlic from its foil wrapping.
- Set up your food processor with the “S” blade. Place the pumpkin seeds in the food processor and pulse until they are coarsely ground. Then, add 1 cup of cooked squash, black beans, chipotles, adobo, coconut aminos, paprika, cumin, red wine vinegar, plus salt and pepper to taste. Squeeze the bulb of roasted garlic into the food processor (there should be roughly 6 cloves total).
- Pulse the food processor a few times until you have a slightly dry and chunky paste. Scrape down the sides with a spatula to get everything combined and evenly puréed. Then, with the motor running, slowly drizzle the olive oil into the food processor through the feed tube. Once you have a thick and creamy dip consistency, you’re good!
- Check the dip for seasoning and adjust if necessary (more salt, more chipotles, more vinegar etc). Serve the dip with the suggested garnishes or just as-is!
Sources
Scott, R. (2024, November 26). Homemade fresh pumpkin pie. Allrecipes. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/13711/homemade-fresh-pumpkin-pie/
Swift, M., & Holser, M. (2024, October 23). 30 things you can do with Pumpkin Guts. Brit + Co. https://www.brit.co/things-to-make-with-pumpkin-guts/
Wright, L. (2024, March 7). Black Bean Dip with Roasted Squash, Garlic, Pumpkin Seeds & Chipotles. The First Mess. https://thefirstmess.com/2021/09/24/black-bean-dip-squash-chipotle/
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