5 ways with... pumpkin

Got a load of pumpkin left over from Halloween? Fear not, there will be no waste, just plenty of delicious dishes with these easy sales-boosting ideas

1. Piece of the pie

It’s a classic, yes it’s pumpkin pie. Whip up a batch of pastry, cook grated pumpkin flesh with brown sugar and cinnamon, adding nutmeg or crushed walnuts for an extra flavour boost, assemble the pie and bake.

2. Soup it up

Delicious and versatile and the perfect warmer on a cold day, thick and creamy pumpkin soup is a winner. Stay simple with pumpkin, onion, cream and stock, or add spices such as ginger. Serve with hunks of fresh bread or melted cheese on toast fingers.

3. Simply roasted

Slice a pumpkin into wedges – you can peel or leave the skin on – scoop out the seeds and either roast wedges as they are or drizzle with oil, a little honey and cumin seeds until tender, then choose how to use. Try chopped in warm salads, mashed to serve as a side dish, to top a pie or even to make into pancakes with a pinch of nutmeg or cinnamon, or puree and add to pumpkin spice lattes or cocktails.

4. Sweet treat

Pumpkin cake is ideal as you can serve it for Bonfire Night too. Use pumpkin, sultanas, orange zest and juice, mixed spice, maple syrup and chopped pecans or walnuts in your cake mix and top with cream cheese drizzled with maple syrup and nuts. You could also make pumpkin muffins.

5. Smooth as

Pumpkin puree makes an ideal base for so many recipes and can be frozen too. Try a delicious smoothie by whizzing pumpkin puree, unsweetened almond milk, banana, ice, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice together in a blender. It’s dairy-free too!