Ingredients:

• 1 small pumpkin (about 500g)
• olive oil, for roasting
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled, juiced
• 2 tbsp tahini paste
• 400g can chickpeas, drained
• 1 red pepper, deseeded, and sliced
• 1 yellow pepper, deseeded, and sliced
• mini breadsticks and pitta chips, to serve

Instructions:

1. Cut the top off the pumpkin, about two-thirds of the way up. Remove the pumpkin seeds, then scoop the flesh out of the bottom and the lid.

2. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Cut the pumpkin flesh into pieces and put in a roasting tin with the garlic and a good glug of oil. Season, then bake for 45 mins until very tender. Leave to cool.

3. Tip the pumpkin into a food processor with any juices from the roasting tin and the garlic. Add the lemon juice, tahini paste and chickpeas. Season with salt and blend to a paste – add a little more oil if it's too thick. Scoop the hummus back into the pumpkin and serve with the peppers, breadsticks and pitta chips.

Recipe taken from www.bbcgoodfood.com

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 3 tbsp Thai yellow curry paste, or vegetarian alternative
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 3 large stalks lemongrass, bashed with the back of a knife
• 6 cardamom pods
• 1 tbsp mustard seed or a small squash (about 1kg)
• 250ml vegetable stock
• 400ml can reduced-fat coconut milk
• 400g can chickpea, drained and rinsed
• 2 limes
• large handful mint leaves
• naan bread, to serve

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a sauté pan, then gently fry the curry paste with the onions, lemongrass, cardamom and mustard seed for 2-3 mins until fragrant. Stir the pumpkin or squash into the pan and coat in the paste, then pour in the stock and coconut milk. Bring everything to a simmer, add the chickpeas, then cook for about 10 mins until the pumpkin is tender. The curry can now be cooled and frozen for up to 1 month.

2. Squeeze the juice of one lime into the curry, then cut the other lime into wedges to serve alongside. Just before serving, tear over mint leaves, then bring to the table with the lime wedges and warm naan breads.

Recipe taken from www.bbcgoodfood.com

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 25g/1oz unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium pumpkin (prepared weight about 850g/1lb 14oz) deseeded and roughly chopped
• 1 medium-sized floury potato, such as Maris Piper, roughly chopped
• 1 litre/1¾ pint vegetable or chicken stock, a little extra may be needed
• 100ml/3½fl oz double cream
• 3 tbsp pumpkin seeds
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. Put the onion, carrots, garlic bay leaf, butter and half the olive oil into a large pan. Cook over a low–medium heat for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender but not coloured.

2. Add the squash and potato, mix to combine and cook for a further 2–3 minutes. Pour in the stock, season well and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, half cover the pan with a lid and continue to cook for about 40 minutes until the squash is really tender when tested with the point of a knife.

3. Pick out the bay leaf and blend the soup until smooth using a stick blender.

4. Add the cream and a little more stock if the soup is on the thick side, taste for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper as required.

5. Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the pumpkin seeds and fry quickly until the seeds start to pop. Remove from the pan.

6. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with a swirl of cream and the toasted pumpkin seeds.

Recipe taken from BBC Food website.

Ingredients:

• 1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup raisins, optional

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Combine first 8 ingredients. Whisk together eggs, pumpkin, oil and water; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in walnuts and, if desired, raisins.
• Pour into a greased 9x5-in. loaf pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 65-70 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Recipe taken from www.tasteofhome.com

People pay good money for pumpkin seeds from the super market.  Collect up your leftovers and roast them in the oven for a tasty - and healthy - snack!

Instead of putting your leftover pumpkin in your waste bin - pop it in the compost!  Cut it into pieces when you are done and it will compost even faster.