Don’t throw your Jack-o’-Lanterns Pumpkin after Halloween - Here are 8 Creative and Delicious Ways to Repurpose Them!
You Can Eat Almost Every Bit of Pumpkin
Pumpkin's flesh is high in fibre and beta carotene. Their seeds are rich in potassium and protein. Toasted pumpkin seeds make a healthy snack, and you can use fresh pumpkin puree in any recipe.
1. Turn the Guts of the Pumpkin into Compost
Those icky, stringy parts that make pumpkin carving such a big, fun mess can make an excellent addition to your compost bin.
2. Make it into Stock
Yield: Serves 2-3
Time: 60mins
If you don’t compost, or you want to try something new, you can use the guts to make some pumpkin stock.
To begin, add these ingredients to a pot:
Ingredients
• The pumpkin guts
• Chopped onion and/or some vegetable scraps (like celery and carrot)
• Bay leaf
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1000ml of water
How to prepare
1. Simmer for 45-60 mins
2. Strain and store in an airtight container in your fridge or freezer
3. Pumpkin stock can be used in most recipes that call for chicken or vegetable stock.
3. Roast the Seeds
Yield: Serves 1-3
Time: 40mins
One of the easiest ways to repurpose pumpkin is by roasting pumpkin seeds. Meanwhile you can teach your kids a lesson in sustainability at the same time make a tasty, healthy snack.
Ingredients
• The pumpkin seeds
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Cayenne/Curry Powder (Optional)
How to prepare
1. Set oven to 180°C.
2. Wash the seeds.
3. Drain and lay them out on a towel to dry.
4. Lay the seeds out on baking sheet (You can also remove the shells if you prefer to).
5. Season them with oilve oil, salt.
6. Spice them up with cayenne or curry powder (optional).
7. Roast them in the oven for 40mins (20mins if the shells are removed).
Do not like eating the seeds? Instead, hold on to them to plant them during March-June (Spring time) next year. Growing your own pumpkins not only save you money, you can enjoy some fun time with your kids — and let you enjoy even more homemade treats next year.
4. Make Pumpkin Puree
Yield: Serves 2-4
Time: 90mins
Pumpkin puree is one of the easiest thing to make with leftover pumpkins. You can turn its puree into risotto, muffins, breads and soups. Puree freezes well for future use; use ziplock bags, filled and flattened for easy storage.
Ingredients
• All the pumpkin flesh from you Jack-o Lantern
How to prepare
1. Bring a pot of water to a boil that will hold a vegetable steamer or colander.
2. In the meantime, rinse the pumpkin under cool water to remove any residual or dirt and dry well with a clean towel.
3. Cut the pumpkin in half. Remove the seeds and guts. Save the seeds for toasting and the guts to make risotto.
4. Cut the pumpkin into evenly sized smaller pieces and peel.
5. Place the pumpkin pieces in a steamer or metal colander and over the boiling water. Cover and let steam for about 50 mins.
6. Puree the pumpkin in a blender or food processor, or by hand.
7. Put it to cool and use ziplock bags, filled and flattened for easy storage.
5. Make Pumpkin Spice Latte
Ingredients
• All the pumpkin flesh from you Jack-o Lantern
How to prepare
• 150g of milk, ideally 2%, for the latte (if you’re making cafe au lait, 100g of milk will give you a 2:1 coffee/milk ratio)
• 1 espresso shot for the latte
• 1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice mixture (or mix your own cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg blend)
• 1 tsp. maple syrup
• 1 tsp. pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• Cinnamon sticks and/or maple pumpkin butter as garnish (Optional)
How to prepare
1. Measure and pour milk into a saucepan on your stove.
2. Add in pumpkin pie spice, maple syrup, pumpkin puree and vanilla extract.
3. Stir well. Heat the mixture on medium/hot heat, stirring occasionally.
4. Meanwhile, brew coffee or espresso.
5. Remove milk from the stovetop once it’s hot and use a milk frother to froth it.
6. The mixture should double in size and create a nice foam.
7. Once milk is frothed, combine in a mug with espresso or coffee.
8. Garnish with pumpkin pie spice.
9. Add a cinnamon stick or drizzle with a bit of maple pumpkin butter (optional).
6. Turn those Guts into Risotto
Yield: Serves 2-4
Time: 60mins
You can turn the gooey orange guts you've painstakingly scraped from inside your giant squash. For this recipe, you'll need at least one 200g of innards.
Ingredients
• 1200ml of chicken (or veggie) stock
• 100ml cup dry white wine
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 200g arborio rice
• 200g pumpkin guts, pureed
• 100g sliced pumpkin, pureed
• 2 tsp of thyme, chopped
• Mascarpone, ricotta or goat cheese
• Parmesan cheese
• 10g Olive oil
• 1-2 stock of rosemary
• 1-2 tbsp butter
• salt and pepper
How to prepare
1. Heat the stock over medium heat until it's just below a simmer.
2. Heat up olive oil and the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.
3. Add the onions and garlic, cooking until fragrant and translucent.
4. Add in the rice, gently toasting it for a 5 mins.
5. Add the wine, cooking until it's almost all evaporated. Slowly ladle in the hot stock one cup at a time, waiting until the liquid has almost completely evaporated before adding in the next cup.
6. Continue to slowly add stock until the rice has plumped and softened but still retains a little bite.
7. Stir in the pumpkin puree, the two kinds of cheese, thyme, salt and pepper. Keep on the heat until everything is warmed through.
Garnish with a dollop of cheese or extra grated parmesan and serve immediately.
7. Turn Pumpkin Skin into Chips
Ingredients
• Your Jack-o Lantern
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Sesame oil (optional)
How to prepare
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C
2. Skin the pumpkin, carefully cut the skin off the pumpkin into long, thin slices (as thin as you can).
3. Add skins to a large bowl, sprinkle liberally with salt and mix well (sit for 10mins).
4. Add a small amount of olive oil (optional-add a drop of sesame oil) and Mix well.
5. Line baking sheet over a baking tray, arrange the sliced pumpkin skin evenly over the baking sheet.
6. Put the tray into the oven and for 25-30 mins at 200°C.
8. Lastly you can Donate them away
Don't want to deal with the pumpkins yourself? No worries! There are plenty of places that may take them off your hands. See if you can donate leftover pumpkins to zoos, animal shelters, farms, or community gardens. They'll be grateful for the compost material or animal snacks. Or you can contact us at 8808 9680 to collect and donate it away for you!
Tips
Here's some tips to remove the shells from the seeds easily, lay them out on a cutting board and roll over them with a rolling pin. This will crack them open a bit, but be careful not to crush them. Or add them to a pot of boiling water. It should take about five to ten minutes for the majority of the shells to slip off. Drain and lay them out on a towel to dry.
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