A pumpkin is for life, not just for Halloween.

Well, for the general Autumn/Winter season at any rate.

 

Hello.

Much to my annoyance last year, as soon as Halloween was over, the pumpkins disappeared from the supermarkets. It was almost like they aren't actually a vegetable, just a decorative item or fun filled half term pass-time.

 

This just isn't true.

 

I only really found out I liked pumpkin last year so I was all set to make up for a lot of missed pumpkin opportunities. But I couldn't because they were more scarce than chicken teeth. There's a high quality, old fashioned saying for you! And they are conspicuous by their absence again this year. Disappointing.

 

Pumpkin is delicious. Roasted up it's super tasty. I imagine it also makes a good mash or maybe as a gratin? I am open to suggestions. I am currently in love with pumpkin and chorizo soup. It's super tasty and sooo easy to make. And it saddens me that pumpkins are just thrown away, not to be eaten. What a waste.

 

By all means, carve a pumpkin! I carved mine. It was a good time. If you're interested here is what I did:

Not very traditional I grant you, but I highly recommend taking a power drill to a pumpkin. Very good fun.

 

But before I could do that. I had to do all the prep:

 

I decided to cut the bottom off rather than the top, again breaking with tradition. It's easier to deal with the candle situation and it adds a bit of stability.

Then came the less pleasant part, scooping out the seeds. A mixture of hands and a metal spoon seems to be the best way of doing this.

Finally, it was time to get the flesh out. I used a teaspoon as it was a the only thing that fit in the cavity. And I scraped. And scraped. And scraped. And approximately one lifetime later I had managed to get enough pumpkin out.

1.3 KILOGRAMS OF PUMPKIN!

Oh yes. Bargain.

 

So what do you do with over a kilogram of pumpkin? Make soup of course! Just like I said above.

First fry up the chorizo. Then take out of the pan and fry up the onions.

Chuck the pumpkin in and cook that for a bit until it starts to soften.

Add stock and simmer for half an hour or so.

 

I am well aware none of the above pictures look that appealing. And to be brutally honest, the finished product is a strange sludgy brown colour. But boy is it scrumptious! All you do is blend it to the desire consistency and chuck the chorizo back in!

In total I made 10 portions of soup. At around 50p a soup! And I had a nice time to boot. (I am all about the funny phrases today).

 

So there it is. Pumpkin soup and an autumnal decoration. It is a multifunctional food that should be available AFTER Halloween please.

 

Love Charlotte xx

 

 

Ps. I was so bothered by the disappearing pumpkins that I found myself in this Twitter conversation:

Thanks Sainsburys. I shall look forward to next year.