Pumpkin Recipes for Making Your Fresh Pumpkin Last!
Pumpkins are so versatile in flavor and texture, and are so rich in vitamins A and C, potassium, and fiber! Check out http://www.livestrong.com/article/341517-what-vitamins-minerals-do-pumpkins-contain/ for details on just how much of each you’ll get in a half cup of pumpkin.
TURKEY PUMPKIN CHILI
Contributed by Lauren Welker in Cherrywood
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup chopped bell peppers
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes w/ liquid
- 1 can beans kidney, black, etc. rinsed and drained
- 1 can corn, drained
- 2 cups pumpkin puree
- 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 cup water/tomato juice
- salt + pepper to taste
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and saute the onion, bell pepper, and garlic until tender. Stir in the turkey, and cook until evenly brown. Drain, and mix in tomatoes, pumpkin, beans and corn. Season with chili powder, cumin, honey, pepper, and salt. Add water or tomato juice. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes. Or add cooked meat, plus all other ingredients into a crock pot and cook on LOW for 4-6 hrs.
SAVORY PUMPKIN SOUP
Contributed by Vanita Trippe in Violet Crown
A friend gave me this recipe in an attempt to create a wonderful soup we had in Jamaica. This version is much thicker than what we had there, so I think if I made it again, I would go heavier on the broth. I would also now use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, but that’s a personal choice.
- 1/2 C. finely chopped onion
- 1 1/2 T. minced, peeled fresh ginger root
- 3 T. unsalted butter
- 4 C. pumpkin (approximately 1 1/2 lbs.)
- 2 C. chicken broth (or vegetable)
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 T. fresh lime juice
Saute onion and ginger in the butter. Add pumpkin, broth, 2 cups of water and garlic. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes, or until pumpkin is tender. Blend until pureed. (Using stick blender or counter-top blender.) Return soup to pan. Stir in lime juice and add salt and pepper to taste.
PUMPKIN CHUTNEY
(adapted from http://www.instructables.com/id/Pumpkin-Chutney/?ALLSTEPS)
- 3.5 lb pie pumpkin or other winter squash
- 1 lb tart apples (about 3 Apples)
- 3 cup malt vinegar (or half and half Malt vinegar and apple cider vinegar)
- 2 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 tblsp molasses
- 24 dates (about 15 oz)
- 1 sweet onion
- 2 cup rasins
- 2 3” sticks cinnamon
- 8 med cloves garlic
- 3 tblsp ginger mashed
- 2 fresh chili’s
- bunch cilantro
- 6 allspice mashed
- 8 cardamom pods mashed
- 6 oz almond, slivered or broken into small pieces
- At large heavy soup or stew pot
- 12 twelve oz Canning jars or enough jars of another size to hold a total of 18 cups
Prepping the pumpkin and veggies
First the pumpkin needs to be cleaned out and the skin needs to be removed.
Cut the pumpkin in half and using a spoon or scraper, scrape out the seeds and strings. The seeds can be set aside for roasting and the strings should be discarded.
To remove the skin will require softening the squash but you don’t want to really cook it before adding it to the chutney.
Slice the pumpkin along its grooves to make a series of wedges
Microwave on high for 4 min
if the squash is still too hard to peel away from the skin with a paring knife, nuke it for an additional 2-3 minutes. Don’t nuke it to the point of making it soft though.
Once the skin is peeled away dice into 1/2″ pieces.
(Pumpkin prepared this way can be packaged and frozen for later use or can be refrigerated for 1-2 days before continuing on)
Coarsely chop the Onion
Remove the pits and caps from the dates and coarsely chop
Into the Pot
Quarter the apples and remove the core and stems.
I like apple skin so I leave it on, but some would also skin the apples at this time.
Slice each quarter apple into thin wedges and half these, and put in the pot along with:
- The Pumpkin cubes,
- The apple slices,
- the chopped dates,
- the chopped onion,
- the cinnamon sticks,
- The vinegar
- The brown sugar
- The molasses
- and the raisins
After about 30 minutes of simmering, the pumpkin, apples, and onion will have softened and lost volume while the dates and raisins will plump up a bit. Over all the volume in the pot will come down about 25%.
At this point fine chop or grind together the garlic, ginger, and hot peppers and mix that into the pot.
With a mortar and pestle mash the cardamom pods and allspice berries and add those to the pot.
Continue cooking with the pot covered for another 5-10 minutes. Then remove the lid and continue to simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed stirring frequently so the chutney at the bottom of the pot does not burn; This will take about another 10 minutes or so. If the chutney seems too dry, a little bit of water can be added to the pot to provide a touch of liquid.
Almonds can be bought already slivered of diced, but they are easy enough to break into bits and will be fresher if broken up at the time you want to use them.
To break them up, place the whole almonds into a sturdy bag, and pound with a meat or crab mallet
Toast the almond pieces in a 400 degree oven for 5 or so minutes until brown (check frequently as they can easily burn) and add these immediately to the Chutney as it comes off the flame
Fill sterile jars & process
For the Pumpkin Chutney I use 12-16 ounce jars. The jars can be prepared by running them and their covers through the dishwasher or by running them through a boiling water bath.
• Fill jars to about 1/8-inch of the top and screw on covers tightly
• Place in boiling bath 10 min and cool
Once cooled, the caps should be concave.
ENJOY!
