Halloween Recipes with Leftover Pumpkin

 The Witching Hour fast approaches and the Cheap$kate Recipe Conjurer is ready to cast his spell on your taste buds this Halloween season.

Once, a couple of days after Halloween I scraped off the melted wax from inside our pumpkin. I split the pumpkin in half and roasted them in a 350-degree oven for an hour and a half. I'll put the sweetly caramelized, soft orange flesh to good use.

And roasted pumpkin is tasty enough as a side dish, right out of the oven.

Roast pumpkin skin is soft to the touch, and the flesh is easy to scoop out when it's baked done. Let the pieces sit for about 5-10 minutes to cool down. Scrape out the cooked pumpkin flesh with a large spoon (discard any skin that may come off with it.) Now you are ready to make a few pumpkin-based recipes.

 

Pumpkins are the cheapest this time of year, and they're tasty too, as you will see, so keep on reading and click on any recipe name to visit the original blog post recipe.

Way below 99 cents per pound!

My Rustic Pumpkin and Corn Chowder is easy to put together. The other ingredients are broth, half and half cream (or milk substitute,) a can of corn, onion, garlic, and red or orange bell pepper. Pretty simple, but complex in flavor.

The roasted pumpkin chunks will break apart while cooking in a bath of stock and cream, so there is no need to blend it to mush - as most recipes tell you - hence, my calling this veggie chowder "rustic."

And, if you still have leftover roast pumpkin, I have a Pumpkin alla Fusilli entree you can try out by clicking here.

It's a pasta sauce made with sauteed roast pumpkin, garlic, and onion, and sweetened with white wine. Finish the dish with as much Parmesan cheese as you like.

I use coiled fusilli pasta, but you can use any cheap dried pasta you have on hand.

And this is a pasta dish your vegetarian friends and family will love.

I like to finish up with my Mom's Pumpkin Pie recipe video. She makes hers with canned pumpkin, but just imagine how more intense the flavor will be with freshly roasted pumpkin.



You will want to smooth out the pumpkin flesh like mashed potatoes. You can use a potato masher, fork, or lightly blend roasted pumpkin.

I would also add your favorite sweetener to the pumpkin. It's up to you how sweet to make it, but you can start with 2 tablespoons worth. Just taste the pumpkin puree until it is sweet enough to suit your taste. This recipe calls for evaporated milk and that will add more sweetness as well.

These comfy entrees will feed your whole family. I hope you saved your pumpkin like I did. So, just cut out the soft and moldy bits, scrape off the candle-blackened part and wax, and get cooking! 

Halloween Recipes with Leftover Pumpkin

The Witching Hour fast approaches and the Cheap$kate Recipe Conjurer is ready to cast his spell on your taste buds this Halloween season.

Once, a couple of days after Halloween I scraped off the melted wax from inside our pumpkin. I split the pumpkin in half and roasted them in a 350-degree oven for an hour and a half. I'll put the sweetly caramelized, soft orange flesh to good use.

And roasted pumpkin is tasty enough as a side dish, right out of the oven.

Roast pumpkin skin is soft to the touch, and the flesh is easy to scoop out when it's baked done. Let the pieces sit for about 5-10 minutes to cool down. Scrape out the cooked pumpkin flesh with a large spoon (discard any skin that may come off with it.) Now you are ready to make a few pumpkin-based recipes.

 

Pumpkins are the cheapest this time of year, and they're tasty too, as you will see, so keep on reading and click on any recipe name to visit the original blog post recipe.

Way below 99 cents per pound!

My Rustic Pumpkin and Corn Chowder is easy to put together. The other ingredients are broth, half and half cream (or milk substitute,) a can of corn, onion, garlic, and red or orange bell pepper. Pretty simple, but complex in flavor.

The roasted pumpkin chunks will break apart while cooking in a bath of stock and cream, so there is no need to blend it to mush - as most recipes tell you - hence, my calling this veggie chowder "rustic."

And, if you still have leftover roast pumpkin, I have a Pumpkin alla Fusilli entree you can try out by clicking here.

It's a pasta sauce made with sauteed roast pumpkin, garlic, and onion, and sweetened with white wine. Finish the dish with as much Parmesan cheese as you like.

I use coiled fusilli pasta, but you can use any cheap dried pasta you have on hand.

And this is a pasta dish your vegetarian friends and family will love.

I like to finish up with my Mom's Pumpkin Pie recipe video. She makes hers with canned pumpkin, but just imagine how more intense the flavor will be with freshly roasted pumpkin.



You will want to smooth out the pumpkin flesh like mashed potatoes. You can use a potato masher, fork, or lightly blend roasted pumpkin.

I would also add your favorite sweetener to the pumpkin. It's up to you how sweet to make it, but you can start with 2 tablespoons worth. Just taste the pumpkin puree until it is sweet enough to suit your taste. This recipe calls for evaporated milk and that will add more sweetness as well.

These comfy entrees will feed your whole family. I hope you saved your pumpkin like I did. So, just cut out the soft and moldy bits, scrape off the candle-blackened part and wax, and get cooking! 

Halloween Recipes with Leftover Pumpkin

The Witching Hour fast approaches and the Cheap$kate Recipe Conjurer is ready to cast his spell on your taste buds this Halloween season.

Once, a couple of days after Halloween I scraped off the melted wax from inside our pumpkin. I split the pumpkin in half and roasted them in a 350-degree oven for an hour and a half. I'll put the sweetly caramelized, soft orange flesh to good use.

And roasted pumpkin is tasty enough as a side dish, right out of the oven.

Roast pumpkin skin is soft to the touch, and the flesh is easy to scoop out when it's baked done. Let the pieces sit for about 5-10 minutes to cool down. Scrape out the cooked pumpkin flesh with a large spoon (discard any skin that may come off with it.) Now you are ready to make a few pumpkin-based recipes.

 

Pumpkins are the cheapest this time of year, and they're tasty too, as you will see, so keep on reading and click on any recipe name to visit the original blog post recipe.

Way below 99 cents per pound!

My Rustic Pumpkin and Corn Chowder is easy to put together. The other ingredients are broth, half and half cream (or milk substitute,) a can of corn, onion, garlic, and red or orange bell pepper. Pretty simple, but complex in flavor.

The roasted pumpkin chunks will break apart while cooking in a bath of stock and cream, so there is no need to blend it to mush - as most recipes tell you - hence, my calling this veggie chowder "rustic."

And, if you still have leftover roast pumpkin, I have a Pumpkin alla Fusilli entree you can try out by clicking here.

It's a pasta sauce made with sauteed roast pumpkin, garlic, and onion, and sweetened with white wine. Finish the dish with as much Parmesan cheese as you like.

I use coiled fusilli pasta, but you can use any cheap dried pasta you have on hand.

And this is a pasta dish your vegetarian friends and family will love.

I like to finish up with my Mom's Pumpkin Pie recipe video. She makes hers with canned pumpkin, but just imagine how more intense the flavor will be with freshly roasted pumpkin.



You will want to smooth out the pumpkin flesh like mashed potatoes. You can use a potato masher, fork, or lightly blend roasted pumpkin.

I would also add your favorite sweetener to the pumpkin. It's up to you how sweet to make it, but you can start with 2 tablespoons worth. Just taste the pumpkin puree until it is sweet enough to suit your taste. This recipe calls for evaporated milk and that will add more sweetness as well.

These comfy entrees will feed your whole family. I hope you saved your pumpkin like I did. So, just cut out the soft and moldy bits, scrape off the candle-blackened part and wax, and get cooking! 

Halloween Recipes with Leftover Pumpkin

The Witching Hour fast approaches and the Cheap$kate Recipe Conjurer is ready to cast his spell on your taste buds this Halloween season.

Once, a couple of days after Halloween I scraped off the melted wax from inside our pumpkin. I split the pumpkin in half and roasted them in a 350-degree oven for an hour and a half. I'll put the sweetly caramelized, soft orange flesh to good use.

And roasted pumpkin is tasty enough as a side dish, right out of the oven.

Roast pumpkin skin is soft to the touch, and the flesh is easy to scoop out when it's baked done. Let the pieces sit for about 5-10 minutes to cool down. Scrape out the cooked pumpkin flesh with a large spoon (discard any skin that may come off with it.) Now you are ready to make a few pumpkin-based recipes.

 

Pumpkins are cheapest this time of year, and they're tasty too, as you will see, so keep on reading and click on any recipe name to visit the original blog post recipe.

Way below 99 cents per pound!

My Rustic Pumpkin and Corn Chowder is easy to put together. The other ingredients are broth, half and half cream (or milk substitute,) a can of corn, onion, garlic, and red or orange bell pepper. Pretty simple, but complex in flavor.

The roasted pumpkin chunks will break apart while cooking in a bath of stock and cream, so there is no need to blend it to mush - as most recipes tell you - hence, my calling this veggie chowder "rustic."

And, if you still have leftover roast pumpkin, I have a Pumpkin alla Fusilli entree you can try out by clicking here.

It's a pasta sauce made with sauteed roast pumpkin, garlic, and onion, and sweetened with white wine. Finish the dish with as much Parmesan cheese as you like.

I use coiled fusilli pasta, but you can use any cheap dried pasta you have on hand.

And this is a pasta dish your vegetarian friends and family will love.

I like to finish up with my Mom's Pumpkin Pie recipe video. She makes hers with canned pumpkin, but just imagine how more intense the flavor will be with freshly roasted pumpkin.



You will want to smooth out the pumpkin flesh like mashed potatoes. You can use a potato masher, fork, or lightly blend roasted pumpkin.

I would also add your favorite sweetener to the pumpkin. It's up to you how sweet to make it, but you can start with 2 tablespoons worth. Just taste the pumpkin puree until it is sweet enough to suit your taste. This recipe calls for evaporated milk and that will add more sweetness as well.

These comfy entrees will feed your whole family. I hope you saved your pumpkin like I did. So, just cut out the soft and moldy bits, scrape off the wax, and get cooking! 

Rustic Pumpkin & Corn Chowder

The clocks have been set back an hour, it's raining outside in Los Angeles this morning, and I'm in the mood for a hearty soup.

A couple of days after Halloween I scraped off the melted wax from inside our pumpkin, and roasted the split halves in a 350 degree oven for an hour and a half. I'll put the sweetly caramelized, soft orange flesh to good use today. When Amy bought the pumpkin I knew I would cook something with it, since baked pumpkin is a delicious main ingredient I can use in many recipes.  The next step was figuring out what to cook with it - and four days later, I did! 

My Rustic Pumpkin and Corn Chowder  is easy to put together. And, of course, all the ingredients are cheap (especially, since grocery stores are practically giving away pumpkins this time of year.) The other ingredients are broth, half and half cream (or milk,) a can of corn, onion, garlic and bell pepper. Pretty simple, but complex in flavor.

Way below 99 cents per pound!

The roasted pumpkin will break apart while cooking in a bath of stock and cream, so there is no need to blend it to mush - as most recipes tell you - hence, my calling this vegetable chowder "rustic."

It's a great and comfy dish that will feed your whole family. I hope you saved your pumpkin like I did. So, just cut out the soft and moldy bits and get cooking!

And, if you still have leftover pumpkin after making this recipe, I have a Pumpkin alla Fusilli entree you can try out by clicking here.

Ingredients  (about 6 servings)

• 5 cups of cooked pumpkin - you can use more, just add another cup or two of milk, broth or water.
• 1 can of corn with liquid - okay to use 2 cups of fresh or frozen corn kernels.
• 1 whole medium onion - I used a small red, and a small white onion, chopped.
• 1/4 bell pepper - optional. I used a red bell pepper.
• 1 tablespoon garlic - chopped fresh or from jar.
• 2 cups half and half cream - okay to use milk.
• 2 cups of broth (veggie or chicken) - I used a 14 ounce can of chicken broth. You can dissolve a couple of bouillon cubes in 2 cups of water instead.
• 1 tablespoon of oil.
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Split pumpkin in half and scrape out the seeds. Place in a 350 degree oven on a large cookie sheet (s). Make sure the pumpkin is cut side down - so it looks like a dome - it will steam and soften, without drying out. If you have holes cut out like we did, then just cover it with foil. If your containers are small it's okay to cut pumpkin into large chunks and just cover with foil. In the photo above the eyes and mouth holes are uncovered, and what happened was that a dry skin formed over the pumpkin flesh. It was still soft underneath, but I had to peel it away.

Roast pumpkin for about an hour and a half, depending how large the pumpkin is. Go ahead and check on it after an hour -- if the skin is soft to the touch of a spoon, and the flesh is easy to scoop out, then it's ready. Let the pieces set for about 5-10 minutes to cool down. Scrape out the cooked pumpkin flesh with a large spoon (discard any skin that may come off with it), and place in a large stock pot for your chowder.

 Pour a tablespoon of oil into a pan. Saute the chopped onion and bell pepper for about 5 minutes, until soft. Add 1 tablespoon of chopped garlic and cook another minute. Set aside until pumpkin has cooled (unless you precook it, like it did.)

Add canned corn (including liquid) and cooked veggies to the pumpkin in the large pot. Pour in 2 cups of cream or milk, 2 cups of broth, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir together and bring up to a low simmer, immediately reduce heat to the lowest, and cook covered for about 30 minutes. You don't want to boil the chowder or the milk will scorch and separate. Stir the chowder after a few minutes of covered cooking.

Check back on the chowder after 15 minutes to make sure liquid doesn't cook out, and add more if needed. I like my chowder thick, but if you want a soupy consistency, then add an extra cup, or two, of any of the listed liquids above.

 Soup is actually ready when hot, but I like to slow cook it for half an hour -- so all the flavors intensify, and the veggies soften even more. Get decadent and serve with a dollop of Creme Fraiche, Sour Cream or Mexican Crema, and a sprinkling of chopped parsley or chives.

Hindsight
I didn't have any bacon on hand, so left it out; although a couple of crumbled browned slices, with the grease, would be a tasty addition. I would also add a cup of white wine next time.

Roasted Pumpkin alla Fusilli

Stop! Don't throw that pumpkin away yet! The 99 Cent Chef has a delicious way to use the parts without melted candle wax -- a vegetarian delight of roasted pumpkin with fusilli (pasta). Roasted and scraped from the skin, the pumpkin's soft flesh is sweeter baked than boiled, and the color is a richer orange, too. Baked pumpkin is drier, so the pasta sauce will be chunkier, like mashed potatoes, and wedge itself in the coils of fusilli. This is a tasty and intense pasta sauce needing only a few more ingredients.

Stir roasted pumpkin into sauteed onion and garlic, then make it all sweeter with 99 cent white wine. Yes, white wine is back at 99c only Stores, and of the Italian variety! I tweeted about it two days ago. The drought is over! White wine is generally too sweet for this chef's palate, but the Fattoria il Palagio chardonnay is dry, just the way I like it - I bought a case and a half. The other Italian wine is Terre Palladiane, a pinot grigio, and it's sweeter, so I added a cup of it to the pumpkin sauce. Call your local 99c only Store first to see if there's any left; these Italian wines are worth every penny and I'm sure it will fly off the shelf.

The 99 Cent Chef would like to thank Mario Batali for the basic recipe concept; however, I think I improved it considerably with roasting and the addition of white wine. I also left out hot red chile flakes.

Of course, you can use acorn or butternut squash -- hey, try any type unique to your area, and tell the Chef how it works out. My recipe below serves four; if you used canned squash for a smaller serving, just cut other ingredients in half.

 
Ingredients (serves 3-4)

• 4 cups of roasted pumpkin (butternut or acorn squash, or from the can).
• 1/2 chopped onion
• 1 tbsp. chopped garlic - fresh or from jar
• 2 tbsp. olive oil for roasting
• 1 tbsp. olive oil for sauteed onion and garlic
• 1 cup of 99 cent white wine - ok to substitue with any stock or pasta water
• 1 package of fusilla pasta - you can use any type of pasta you have, even speghetti.
• 1/4 cup of 99 cent dried cheese blend or any parmesan you have on hand, to finish dish.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Directions
Break apart pumpkin, remove seeds and stringy membrane. Lay out cleaned pieces on a couple of flat cookie-type pans. Drizzle olive over both sides of pumpkin, salt and pepper, and turn all pieces flesh-side down with outer skin showing. This will keep the flesh from totally drying out. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour -- for thin skinned squash check after 45 minutes, it may be cooked enough. Remove from oven and allow to cool down.

In a large bowl, spoon out the roasted flesh from the skin. Due to roasting, the flesh will brown and even blacken. Remove the most blackened bits but keep the rest; it adds color and contrast to pasta sauce. Go ahead and taste how sweet the pumpkin is. You can serve it just like this, with a little butter of course, or puree with stock and cream for a soup. OK to freeze any you do not use.

Boil water for pasta and follow cooking directions. I reduce time for al dente pasta.

In a large pan, saute chopped onion and garlic in 1 tbsp. of oil for 5 minutes until soft. Add 4 cups of roasted pumpkin (or canned) and pour in 1 cup of white wine, broth or pasta water. Mix well, but leave pumpkin chunky. Heat through for about 5 minutes more until hot. Mix in cooked pasta and dried cheese blend or parmesan.