Pumpkins - what to do with them?

I was asked yesterday what I do with all the pumpkins I grow. Here are just some of this year's harvest.

I wash the dirt off the pumpkins after harvest and carefully examine them for blemishes. Any which are damaged are put aside for "eating now". The rest are stored in a cool dark shed and will keep until next spring.

 What we usually do with pumpkin is roast it and freeze it in chunks. This allows us to take out portions and eat "as is" as a vegetable, or use to make soups or sweet pie filling. Sometimes we eat it freshly cooked as well! We usually have at least one pumpkin cooked in the freezer, ready to use.

To roast the pumpkin, wash the outside, then slice into BIG slices leaving the skin on.

drizzle with oil and salt and pepper, roast in a hot oven (180- 200 C ish) for at least 20 mins then check to see if cooked...we often do a pumpkin for freezing at the same time as a roast dinner as the oven is already set to hot.

When the pumpkin is cooked, get it out and leave to cool until you can hold the slices.

Remove the skin as it is much easier to get off after the pumpkin has been cooked! I then cut the flesh into chunks, let it cool and open freeze it for bagging up later.

To make soup I add the pumpkin flesh ( either raw or cooked) to sweated onion, garlic in a big pan, add stock, add herbs, bring to boil, simmer for 30 min or longer ( ie, until I remember it!) season to taste, leave to cool, blitz with chopper whizzer thingy,

I then portion it out , freeze some portions and keep some back to eat that night or for lunch...

Mmmm delish!

Pumpkin cookery

We had some Chicago Warted Hubbard pumpkin, roasted last night. Very nice, very sweet chestnut flavour. Have a load more to make soup from.

Strange looking thing, though. (The pumpkin, not Compostman I hasten to add!)

This was a smallish one....!

Hubbard, Chicago Warted (a.k.a. Green Chicago Warted Hubbard, Hubbard Improved) (Cucurbita maxima)

From St Claire Heirloom Seeds website

Quote:

105-115 days. An old heirloom developed by Budlong Gardens of Chicago and introduced by Vaughans Seed Store of Chicago in 1894. The Chicago Warted Hubbard Squash's very vigorous vines bear hard shelled, dark green fruits, heavily warted and of a true hubbard shape. Fruits weigh in around 12-16 lbs., and measure 12-14", by 10" in diameter. Flesh is thick, dry, sweet, and fine-grained. Great for pies, baking, or freezing. A very good shipper, and excellent keeper, keeping until late spring.

provided in the UK by Garden Organic HSL