Autumn is here. The leaves are falling, the air is getting crisper and there’s no better time to get cosy and indulge in the vegetable of the season – pumpkin.
The poster veg of Halloween, tis’ the season of pumpkin spiced lattes, scary movie nights and pumpkin carving.
But have you ever wondered what to do with the inside of the pumpkin once you've carved it up?
Every Halloween, 15 million pumpkins are binned, contributing to the overall food waste problem the UK is currently facing where estimates currently put total household food waste at just over 7 million tonnes annually*.
Rather than chuck the seeds and pulp in the bin, here’s our three favourite recipes for using up all that pumpkin goodness:
Pumpkin seeds offer one of the best sources of magnesium, a mineral often missing in Western diets and something most of us are deficient in. They also happen to add a delightful crunch to salads and soups.
Why not try adding a handful of roasted pumpkin seeds to our Moroccan Butternut & Chickpea Salad?
This amazing smelling body scrub uses pumpkin puree which can easily be made from the pulp of carved out pumpkins. Simply separate the seeds from the pulp blend in a food processor until smooth. Then follow this body scrub recipe and turn your home into a mini spa this autumn.
You can even store your scrub in our soup or salad jars to keep it airtight and fresh for longer.
This has to be one of the easiest pumpkin bread recipes ever. Using the same pumpkin puree method as above, you can make a deliciously fragrant bread and you can add some pumpkin seeds for a delicious crunchy topping.
Once baked, try dunking a slice into our new Mexican Chilli Non-Carne Super Soup for a sweet and savoury combo or warm it up and enjoy for pudding.
*Waste And Resource Action Programme, 2019