In this article:
For the fleshPumpkin Maple Bunt Cake and Butternut Squash CaramelFor the flesh and seeds...Pumpkin, saffron & orange soup with caramelised pumpkin seedsFlesh, skin and seeds, all in one!Brown butter pumpkin with goats cheese and sageFrom seeds to sauce...Pumpkin seed & jalapeño gremolataJust the skins...Pumpkin skin crispsWhat to do with webbing and innardsPumpkin 'brain' chutneyA pumpkin soup served inside a pumpkin bowl...Roasted Garlic Sage Pesto Pumpkin Soup with Spicy Fried Pumpkin Seeds7 Ways with Pumpkin: Zero Waste Recipes
Nothing says autumn has arrived quite like the abundance of seasonal squash and pumpkins this time of year. Synonymous with Halloween and Thanksgiving, this edible and decorative crop is everywhere – brimming from PYO patches and greengrocer shelves, lining our streets with glowing carved faces, appearing on menus in sweet and savoury dishes and painting our Instagram feeds with orange.
Research shows that over 8 million pumpkins in the United Kingdom will be thrown in the bin after Halloween, amounting to around 18,000 tons of wasted pumpkin – nearly all of which is edible. This feeds into the 1.3 billion tonnes of global food waste each year. Pumpkins bought for carving and decorative purposes result in the most waste, with only 33% of people cooking with the edible pumpkin they carve out. However even pumpkins bought for cooking can be food waste culprits, with the skin, seeds and webbing commonly discarded. Did you know that every part of the pumpkin (minus the woody stalk – add that to your compost!) is completely edible, and a rich source of nutrients too?
We’ve pulled together seven brilliant recipes to help you use every part of the pumpkin this year!
For the flesh
Pumpkin Maple Bunt Cake and Butternut Squash Caramel
Claire Ptak’s recipes for pumpkin maple bundt cake and butternut squash caramel are two ingenious ways to turn the flesh into quintessential, American inspired autumnal desserts from the founder of Violet Cakes and pastry chef behind Harry and Meghan’s wedding cake! Butternuts and pumpkins add lovely moisture to cake, and this pumpkin maple bundt cake with maple cream cheese frosting is a delicious twist on carrot cake. The recipe for butternut squash caramel harnesses the intense natural sweetness of this widely available crop to make a thick, concentrated paste that can be folded through ice cream, served on almost any cake as a topping, and even pairs beautifully with roast meats.

For the flesh and seeds…
Pumpkin, saffron & orange soup with caramelised pumpkin seeds
This silky smooth, warmly spiced soup from the maestro of big, bold flavours, Yotam Ottolenghi, is one of his most straight-forward recipes made with easy to access ingredients. Make a batch on the weekend for a week of delicious, nourishing lunches and simple suppers, or freeze and have your future self thank you later! The caramelised seeds are great for snacking on too!

Flesh, skin and seeds, all in one!
Brown butter pumpkin with goats cheese and sage
This comforting, nourishing recipe from James Ramsden (who featured on our blog recently to discuss his brilliant new book, Every Last Crumb) sees pumpkin transformed into a thing of beauty by roasting the flesh with the skin left on along with lashings of brown butter for a delicious salad with goats cheese and sage. Pumpkin seeds are fried with breadcrumbs, garlic and chilli for a delicious crunchy topping ensuring nothing goes to waste.

From seeds to sauce…
Pumpkin seed & jalapeño gremolata
Gremolata is the Milanese answer to Genovese pesto and Argentinian chimichurri: an herby, unblended sauce that cuts through heavier dishes and livens them up. This version, with pumpkin seeds and jalapeños, is great served over roast veggies (including roast pumpkin wedges!), meats, fish, eggs, used to dress salads, in sandwiches and endless ways on toast. We love Food52’s serving suggestion of adding to white beans on toast for a speedy, nutritious, plant-based meal!

Just the skins…
Pumpkin skin crisps
These fragrant crisps are a delicious, imaginative, fibre-rich snack that will stop you from every throwing out the skins again! They make a wonderful addition to a grazing platter or served at a dinner party along with tempting dips, and can be seasoned to your liking! For the ultimate zero-waste menu, serve with labneh or vegan cream cheese topped with the pumpkin seed and jalapeño gremolata featured above, and pumpkin hummus.

What to do with webbing and innards
Pumpkin ‘brain’ chutney
As the name suggests, this chutney’s key ingredient is the innards of the pumpkin; the web-like matter at the core which houses the seeds and is always tossed out. This Tamal inspired chutney is richly flavoured with tamarind, curry leaves, chiles de árbol, grated coconut and mustard seeds, promising to blow away any Halloween cobwebs with its warming heat. Serve over rice or with roti, on its own or alongside curries, or pair with meats and cheeses as part of a South Indian flavoured grazing board.

A pumpkin soup served inside a pumpkin bowl…
Roasted Garlic Sage Pesto Pumpkin Soup with Spicy Fried Pumpkin Seeds
This recipe uses every single part of the pumpkin and is even to be served in a hollowed-out pumpkin bowl! Tieghan Gerard, a.k.a Half Baked Harvest, is famous for her decadent and creative home-cooking and deft layering of flavour to elevate simple dishes into something truly spectacular, and this soup is no exception! The roasted garlic sage pesto and spicy fried pumpkin seeds will make enough for leftovers to add a seasonal flourish to meals for the coming days, whilst this cozy and comforting soup screams Thanksgiving and Halloween in a bowl! Of course you can serve in a regular bowl too, but the hollowed-out pumpkin bowls are fun and surprisingly simple and are guaranteed to impress guests (and get a lot of likes on Instagram too!).
