Pumpkin Recipes Please

[2ndTimer]

Right now pumpkin is the cheapest fresh vegetable in the grocery store. Does anybody have any main dish recipes that use it?  Thanks in advance

[leftcoastenvy]

This is not a main course, but our favorite pumpkin recipe is white chocolate pumpkin spice muffins. Sometimes we switch it up and use milk chocolate chips instead of white. Also, a lot of times we make it with maple syrup instead of the sugar so that it doesn't contain any refined ingredients (even though they have very little sugar in them anyway).

This is the recipe I follow: http://www.familygonehealthy.com/recipes/recipe-white-chocolate-pumpkin-spice-muffins/

[Mikila]

Here is an old recipe for pumpkin.  https://m.youtube.com/?#/watch?v=gFFxPVfJNXQ

They are quite tasty hollowed out, stuffed with Apple's and cinnamon/sugar for dessert, too. 

[Thegoblinchief]

If you don't mind breakfast for dinner:

https://thegoblinchief.wordpress.com/2014/07/19/pan-fried-pumpkin-pancakes/

You can sautee cubed winter squash and use it in curries and other dishes. Goes particularly well with chickpeas and regular peas.

[Frankies Girl]

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/pumpkin-ravioli/
This was very good, but very fussy and time intensive. I was actually sad when we ate it and it turned out tasting so well (because I was hoping it would be blah and I'd never want to make it again)

I used pumpkin puree in lasagna too. Just halfed the amount of tomato sauce and replaced with pumpkin.

I made this amazing soup the other day too: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/234985/savory-roasted-butternut-squash-soup/
Used pumpkin and butternut combo.

[lakemom]

Pumpkin is just a squash so use it in any recipe that calls for squash.  Also good in all kinds of baked goods.

[Jakejake]

I'm making a stuffed one as our main course right now. It's a mashup of a few recipes I found online. The filling is sausage, onions, and mushrooms mixed with cornbread stuffing, with a small amount of leftover mozzarella on top.  I halved and cleaned the pie pumpkin, stuffed it, and covered the halves with foil so it doesn't dry out.

[Lookilu]

I make this savory stuffed pumpkin at least once every fall: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pumpkin-stuffed-with-everything-good-361169

[Daisy]

I made a butternut squash wheatberry salad that was delicious. It also froze well so I enjoyed it for quite some time afterwards. It is eaten cold or room temperature so it's a perfect meal for a picnic. Like someone said above, pumpkins and squashes are very similar so I figure this could work.

I don't have an exact recipe, as I searched around online for stuff to do with wheatberry and then just made up my own thing based on several recipes, but this is about what I did:

Make a bunch of wheatberry
Roast squash (already cubed), garlic, some onions or leeks in the oven
Make homemade honey mustard or maple mustard dressing (olive oil, mustard, honey, lemon juice, salt, pepper - whisk together)

Combine the honey mustard dressing with the wheatberry while the wheatberry is still warm so that it soaks up the dressing. Add in the roasted ingredients with the wheatberry. Cool in refrigerator.

Wheatberry salads are my new go-to thing for picnics or places where you can't heat up food but still want a hearty meal.

[Daisy]

I make this savory stuffed pumpkin at least once every fall: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pumpkin-stuffed-with-everything-good-361169

Ooooh that looks good. I like the stuffed rice option at the end - says it turns almost risotto-like. I'll try this during the fall.

[Thegoblinchief]

It also really, really depends on the variety. Many winter squash/pumpkin varieties are quite sweet, others not so much. And then there's the purely ornamental ones. They are technically edible, but honestly pretty gross.

Carol Deppe breeds squash (among other things) and has good recipes in both of her last two books.

[Moonwaves]

Crusted pumpkin wedges from Ottolenghi's Plenty. Found the recipe online here: http://spryliving.com/recipes/crusted-pumpkin-wedges-with-sour-cream/. Really like this and don't make it half often enough in winter. There are other great recipes in that book, too. In particular, there is a great one for roasted parsnip and sweet potatoes which I've substituted pumpkin for and works well, too.

[neophyte]

I love to eat these with a cup of hot tea on a cold rainy day!

Chilean style Sopaipillas
1 kg flour
1/8 kg lard or butter (I like butter! I use salted.)
1/2 kg  pumpkin (About 1 can)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups hot water  (Use what you need to get a thick dough, it will depend on your pumpkin)

Boil the pumpkin with some sal, drain, and puree. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the pumpkin and butter and knead. Roll dough to about 1/4 inch thick (you don't want these too thin). Cut into circles about 4 inches in diameter. Prick the surface a couple times with a fork and fry.

Since I don't have a Chilean mom in my house to pop these out of the frying pan and onto my plate, I put them in the toaster to warm them up before I eat them.  These are delicious plain or you can top them with either sweet or savory toppings. Syrup is traditional. My favorite is spreading mashed avocado on top.

[wenchsenior]

I make this savory stuffed pumpkin at least once every fall: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pumpkin-stuffed-with-everything-good-361169

Ooooh that looks good. I like the stuffed rice option at the end - says it turns almost risotto-like. I'll try this during the fall.

I've found that it's actually a lot easier to just take pumpkin chunks and layer them with the various items in this recipe, and then bake in a covered dish.

However, it doesn't look as cool as when you do it inside the pumpkin. My big tip is, be sure the pumpkin is smallish and sweet. I first tried this with a regular sized pumpkin, and it wasn't as good, and the ratios of liquid to solid wasn't quite right inside. It takes some work to figure out the proper amount of stuffing and liquid, esp when using croutons or rice or something that will suck up liquid and swell.

[NotJen]

I don't end up with many actual pumpkins, but if I do, a batch of pumpkin vodka is usually my first stop. http://www.thespir.it/articles/how-to-make-your-own-pumpkin-vodka/?viewall=1

Yesterday I made veggie burgers out of a butterkin squash (mix between butternut and pumpkin) and fresh cranberry beans from my CSA.  They were really good, and I love having a few stocked up in my freezer for quick weeknight dinners.  http://peasandcrayons.com/2014/11/butternut-black-bean-burgers.html

Not a main dish, but pumpkin butter is delicious (if you like that kind of thing).  I made some with an acorn squash last year, and it was really good.  Froze well, too.  http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2007/10/pumpkin-butter-and-pepita-granola/

My favorite use for acorn squash, so easy and delicious.  http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2009/10/recipe-for-roasted-winter-squash-and.html

My go-to for butternut squash: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/69633/moroccan-tagine/

[FLBiker]

I'm not much on recipes, but I grew seminole pumpkins last year and did a pumpkin / habenero / cilantro burrito filling that was great.  And my wife makes a pumpkin lentil soup that's really good, too.

[Trudie]

I make slow-cooker pumpkin pudding.  Here's just one recipe, but there are many variations:
http://www.food.com/recipe/slow-cooker-pumpkin-pie-pudding-392378

It's the custard part of pumpkin pie, without the crust.

[meg_shannon]

Winter squash (or pumpkin) Pasta
1 at least medium sized squash
garlic (at least 2 cloves, more if you like garlic)
thyme/sage or rosemary, fresh or dried (use 1 TBL fresh, 1 tsp dry)
about 4 ounces bacon, pancetta, or other smoked meat cut into little cubes or lardons
wine, stock, water for deglazing
1/2 cup cream, optional
parm, or other hard cheese

Halve and seed the squash/pumpkin. Roast the squash/pumpkin and garlic (wrap peeled cloves together in tinfoil with some oil), about 400F for 45-60 minutes. This can be done ahead. Scoop squash from skin, set aside.

When squash is done, or shortly before, put water on to boil the pasta. In the meantime, cook the bacon in a large pot, like a dutch oven. When bacon is crispy, remove from pot.
Your pasta should be cooking now. Just before pasta is done reserve one cup of that wonderful starchy water.

If necessary add more oil to pot and add roasted garlic and herbs (pot is still over heat from cooking bacon), smash and squish it with a spoon. Deglaze pot with deglazing liquid, I like to use white wine. Add squash/pumpkin and bacon to pot, break up big pieces. When pasta is done add drained pasta to the pot. If pasta seems dry, it probably will, add some of the pasta water and/or the cream.

Top with the cheese if you like.

[2ndTimer]

Wow, thanks everybody.  I had no idea there were so many things to do with pumpkin.

[Jakejake]

Yesterday I made veggie burgers out of a butterkin squash (mix between butternut and pumpkin) and fresh cranberry beans from my CSA.  They were really good, and I love having a few stocked up in my freezer for quick weeknight dinners.  http://peasandcrayons.com/2014/11/butternut-black-bean-burgers.html

I made this tonight and they were great! Thanks so much for posting it - my mind never would have gone to veggie burgers for using up pumpkins.

[ShoulderThingThatGoesUp]

Bookmarking because we have twelve enormous pumpkins in the garden.

[2ndTimer]

Revisiting to tell you that I used part of my pumpkin with chicken breast, coconut milk and Massaman Curry paste.  The Hub was very enthusiastic and I thought it was tasty too.  Froze the rest to make muligatawny soup later this year.  Pumpkin goes really well with curries.

[Astatine]

I don't know what the difference between pumpkin and squash is. Pumpkin is orange fleshed with a hard inedible skin, good for roasting. If pumpkin is different in the US, YMMV with this recipe.

Pumpkin soup (also works with orange sweet potato or whatever it's called outside Australia)

Sauté a chopped onion and a couple of cloves of minced garlic in some vegetable oil (I prefer olive oil). Use a biggish saucepan. Add peeled diced pumpkin and add just enough boiling water to cover the pumpkin. Add a tspn of veggie stock powder (or use veggie stock instead of the boiling water if you have it). Add some freshly ground black pepper to taste. Boil until pumpkin is soft. Blitz to a fine purée with a stick blender (or whatever you use to purée stuff). Serve with a dollop of natural yoghurt or sour cream (optional).

This freezes well so we usually make enough for 8 meals (eat 2, freeze 6)

[Lookilu]

I make this savory stuffed pumpkin at least once every fall: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pumpkin-stuffed-with-everything-good-361169

Ooooh that looks good. I like the stuffed rice option at the end - says it turns almost risotto-like. I'll try this during the fall.

I've found that it's actually a lot easier to just take pumpkin chunks and layer them with the various items in this recipe, and then bake in a covered dish.

However, it doesn't look as cool as when you do it inside the pumpkin. My big tip is, be sure the pumpkin is smallish and sweet. I first tried this with a regular sized pumpkin, and it wasn't as good, and the ratios of liquid to solid wasn't quite right inside. It takes some work to figure out the proper amount of stuffing and liquid, esp when using croutons or rice or something that will suck up liquid and swell.

Definitely use a small, sweet pumpkin like a Sugar Pie. If you have a stainless steel colander, you can line it with foil and bake the whole stuffed pumpkin inside if you're worried about stability. I've never had a problem with baking one on a baking sheet, but I've always bought my pumpkins and look for the squatty ones. :)

[Bracken_Joy]

Pumpkin and sausage soup is lovely.
Pumpkins go well in curries, as mentioned above.
Great in a roasted root veggie soup (puréed).

[Rural]

 Pumpkin purée in pasta sauce adds bulk, vitamins, and fiber without being detectable.  I generally freeze a bunch and add a cupful every time I make pasta.

[Daisy]

I've got some extra roasted squash/pumpkin that I am going to puree and freeze to make into a bread or pasta sauce in the future. Great suggestions here!