Pumpkins

Pumpkins are a very good ingredient to use--they are more than just jack-o-lanterns for Halloween.
They are very tasty, with a sweet and savory flavor profile, and are very versatile with what you can do with them.

They're nutrient dense per kcal, being one of the richest foods in vitamin A--just 100 kcal (500g of pumpkin) has 159% daily value of vitamin A.

The best way to prepare and cook a pumpkin is by baking it--after which you can make pumpkin puree, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin chips with the skin, or just have pumpkin bites.
Pumpkin recipes suggestions: Pumpkin pasta, Glazed pumpkin salad

The following process will explain how to bake a pumpkin, saving every part of it, which just happens to be edible, and not having to throw out anything but the fibrous strings covering the seeds.

Instructions:

• 1 - Start by getting your whole pumpkin and washing it well, without cutting anything out yet, and pre-heating your oven to 225°C (437°F).

• 2 - Cut the pumpkin in half.

• 3 - You'll find fibrous string in the middle of the pumpkin, containing the seeds. Proceed to remove the strings with the seeds and set them aside, cleaning the inside of the pumpkin from the strings (as shown in the picture).

• 4 - Cut them pumpkin into cubes (as shown in the picture) leaving the skin on, and crack some salt and pepper on them (or whatever seasonings you want). Line the pumpkin cubes on a baking sheet.

• 5 - Place the sheet in the oven, baking it at 225°C (437°F) for 25-30 minutes, or until soft. Note: time may vary depending on the size of the cubes, poke them with a fork to see if the pumpkin is soft.

• 6 - In the meantime, clean the seeds from the fibrous strings by rinsing them under the water, and throw the strings away. Note: this is OPTIONAL and takes a bit of time, do this step only if you want the pumpkin seeds as well.

At this point, there are two different final instruction processes depending on what you want to do.

FIRST OPTION: pumpkin bites + seeds on the side

At this point, the pumpkin bites are ready. Take them out of the oven, and let cool off before eating (keep the oven on for the next step).

• 7 - (optional) Place the seeds on a baking tray, and put the sheet in the oven at 200°C (392°F), leaving them to bake until crispy (as shown in picture)

--->

• 8 - Enjoy! Serve the pumpkin bites and seeds with a salad, on the side of a dish, or eat them on their own.

SECOND OPTION: pumpkin puree + pumpkin skin/seeds on the side

At this point, the pumpkin is softened and ready to be pureed.
Close the oven and keep the heat inside, so that it's ready to be used again for step 9 without having to pre-heat it from zero.

• 7 - Take the pumpkin pieces out of the oven, and let them cool off for 10-15 minutes. You should now be able to easily separate the skin from the flesh of the pumpkin (as shown in picture), by holding down the flesh part with a fork and carving out/separating the skin with a knife.

• 8 - Separate all the skin parts of pieces of pumpkins from the flesh, and place them back on the baking sheet with the (optional) pumpkin seeds. Put the flesh pieces in a blender. Add coconut milk to the blender (or other plant milk of choice, but coconut milk usually goes best with pumpkin), and blend until smooth and lumpless. Use 1 can of coconut milk for every 800g-1kg of pumpkin.

• 9 - Place the baking sheet with the skin pieces and the seeds back in the oven at 200°C (392°F), leaving them to bake until crispy (as shown in picture). They are ready to eat.

• 10 - In the meantime, prepare a pot with the seasonings needed for the pumpkin puree (garlic goes really well with pumpkin), and heat it up with a bit of water/oil.

• 11 - Pour the blended pumpkin flesh in the pot, stirring and adding some more coconut/soy milk to thin if necessary, achieving a gravy-like consistency (as shown in picture).

• 12 - Enjoy! Serve your pumpkin puree and skin/seeds on the side or mixed with your dish.