Attack of the Killer Pumpkins!

19th April 2012

Surprise Pumpkin

One thing that struck me when I first moved to Australia was the antipodean love for pumpkins. Avocados, mangoes, bananas all fit in with the exotic picture of Oz in my mind, but pumpkins did not. Pumpkins seemed to be in anything at anytime..slice them on pizza, put them in a salad, roast them, mash them, boil them, hug them, love them, snog them….well maybe not. Having said that, here’s my pumpkin story….

I was appraising the butternut pumpkin vine from my hammock last week, when I discovered a 3 kilo Jap Pumpkin growing in amongst the Butternuts. It was a surprise, especially since the pumpkins grew entirely of their own volition out of our compost and spread beyond the confines of my tiny garden. Inspired by their tenacity, I decided to honour them by chopping one up and making it into a Morrocan stew. A convenient way to use up the spinach, onions (red and brown) and those chick peas I had sitting around. The pumpkin was obviously a bit young, but if I didn’t start eating the pumpkins now, I would surely lose some to their own atrophy. Anyway, young or not, it was extremely tasty and the stew was a roaring success – it didn’t last long and even the 4-year old had a second helping.

: Morrocan Stew

After a long Easter weekend with blustery weather, I needed to hunker down to some Canadian comfort food, so I whipped up this pumpkin pie recipe. Could be a regular occurence this winter. I’ve been adapting it from a more traditional recipe for years. This time I used eggs, but I’m tempted to try one with silken tofu and agar….we’ll see.

: Pumpkin Pie

And finally, I was welcomed home yesterday by the smells of one of my favourite pumpkin soup recipes adapted from Jude Blereau’s awesome cookbook Wholefood. The best thing was, I didn’t have to cook this one! Pumpkin, sweet potato, pear, ginger and coconut mmmmm….I think I’ll go have some right now!

Pumpkin, Sweet Potato, Pear and Ginger Soup