What to do with fresh pumpkins? No sweets, please...?!

This is great served in a pumpkin tureen.
CHILI PUMPKIN CHICKEN: Serves: 6
1 2-lb. sugar pumpkin (or 4-5 c. cubed pumpkin or other winter squash)
1 T. vegetable oil
2 large yellow onions, chopp[ed ( about 2 1/2 c.)
3 cloves garlic, minced ( 1 1/2 t. )
1/2 green pepper, chopped ( 1/2 c.)
1 rib celery, chopped
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 c. defatted chicken stock
1 14-oz. can whole tomatoes
2/3 c. pitted prunes
1/2 c. dried apricots
1 1/2 T.chili powder ( you can use mild chili powder and spice it up with extra pure ground chili )
1/8 t. ground chili pepper
1/2-1 t. kosher salt
1/2 c. roasted pumpkin seeds for garnish ( optional )
1. Peel and cut the pumpkin into cubes. Save the seeds to roast for garnish.
2. Heat oil in a saute' pan. Saute' the onion, garlic, green pepper and celery in the oil for 7 to 10 minutes. Cover so that the steam from the vegetables helps them cook.
3. Add the chicken to the vegetabled. Stir and cook until the meat is white on all sides.
4. Add the pumpkin, stock, tomatoes, dried fruit and spices. Simmer, uncovered for 20 minutes.
5. Garnish with roasted pumpkin seeds, if desired.
To make a PUMPKIN TUREEN:
Use a squat, round pumpkin that sits solidly without moving. Wash it well, then pat dry. Cut off the top.Cut off a wider opening than you would for jack-o-laterns. Pull out the strings and seeds. Take a metal spoon and scrape the inside walls until only the hard pumpkin flesh remains.
Bake in a preheated oven, 350* for about 30 minutes to rid pumpkin of it's raw aroma, but you do not want the pumpkin to soften and crumble.
If you want to serve individually, use acorn squash. That is how I serve my pumpkin soup at Thanksgiving. Here is one recipe that we like.
GINGERLY PUMPKIN SOUP: Serves: 4 (This double and triples with no problem.)
2 t. vegetable oil
2 large shallots, minced (2 T.)
1 small yellow onion, chopped (1/2 c.)
1/2 T. grated fresh gingerroot
2 c. pumpkin puree
1 c. orange juice
2 c. defatted chicken or vegetable stock
1 t. kosher salt
1 t. orange zest
1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper
1/16 ground cloves
2 T. minced fresh parsley
1/4 c. toasted pumpkin seeds, if desired
1. Heat the oil in a soup pot over low heat. Saute' the shallot, onion, and ginger in the oil until the onion is soft and golden. Be careful not to scorch the ginger.
2. Add the pumpkin, orange juice, stock, salt, zest, pepper and cloves. Simmer for 10 minutes over medium heat.
3. Garnish with parsley and pumpkin seeds, if you wish.

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

2 3/4 pounds sugar pumpkin or butternut squash, halved and seeded
1 onion, peeled and quartered through the stem
2 shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps wiped clean
1 garlic clove, peeled
1/2 cup olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
5 cups homemade or store-bought low-sodium vegetable stock

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut pumpkin into 2-inch pieces. Combine pumpkin, onion, mushrooms, and garlic on a rimmed baking sheet. Add oil and 2 teaspoons salt; toss to coat, then spread in a single layer. Roast until pumpkin is tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, about 30 minutes, rotating pan and tossing vegetables halfway through. Let cool, then remove skins.
Transfer vegetables to a medium saucepan; heat over medium. Pour in 2 cups stock; puree with an immersion blender until smooth. With the blender running, slowly add remaining 3 cups stock, and puree until smooth. Bring soup just to a simmer. Remove from heat, and season with salt and pepper. Cover to keep warm.

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/roas…

Cut into slices- like wedges. You can cut the skin off, it's hard, but actually it's good to eat.
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes. then a simple way to eat is with parmesan cheese sprinkles on top, slat and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

Otherwise they are great in curry- cut chunks and put into a pan which you've made a gravy- heat oil, garlic, onion and cumin, corainder, fenugreek chili, turmeric, ginger, garam masala, fry it for five minutes, then add a cup of broth, coconut milk and the pumpkin cubes, along with caulflour and green peas.
Simmer, covered for 20 minutes while you cook rice.
Serve with a dollop of plain fresh yoghurt stirred through the curry after i'ts cooked.

Soups, breads, salads, even as a vegetable course with brown sugar.

I haven't vetted this site, but it's an example of recipes you can find on-line.
http://www.babble.com/best-recipes/healt…

We can have zucchini, summer squash, or yellow squash on the table, why not pumpkin?

I agree w/ some of the others, any kind of pasta stuffed w/ pumpkin (ravioli, tortellini) with sage tastes wonderful. go to your favorite recipe site & see what they have.

search for pumpkin ravioli recipes

I put mine in the composter, and later i have a great garden!!!

About every other year we grow pumpkins in the fruit orchard. Get so many of them we give a lot away. The ones we keep I cook FIRST (put in the roasting pan in the oven and cook til soft). Then, let cool and it's super easy to peal away the skin and seed them. Then I freeze the meat in zipper bags. During the year I can take out what I need. My husband loves pumpkin soup and there are some very good recipes on the net. You can also serve pumpkin the same way you would serve any squash, with butter, salt, and pepper. It's a very good and healthy vegetable.

I picked up several pumpkin soup recipes from this page and then started improvising to make our own favorite: http://www.mom-mom.com/pumpkin_soup_reci…

If you use the frozen pumpkin meat for pies and puddings and such, be aware that it will contain more water than the canned pumpkin meat, so make allowances for that.

You can substitute pumpkin into any recipe for winter squash, like butternut or acorn. I found one fantastic one the other day in the cookbook below.

Grate two cups of pumpkin. Sautee it in butter with a little bit of dried sage. Mix it in with 1 cup of brown rice, cooked. Pour it into an 8x8 pan. Top it with a bechamel sauce (1 tablespoon of butter melted with 1 tablespoon of flour, slowly whisk in 1 cup milk and cook slowly until thick). Bake that for 20 minutes at 350 until it browns a little on top.

Another easy recipe is to cut it into slices and lay them in a pan. Dot it with butter and pour whiskey on it. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for an hour or so.

Finally, you can make a great soup right inside the pumpkin! Cut off the top and empty it out. Fill it with a can of chicken broth, a can of evaporated milk, some sauteed carrots and celery, and some croutons. Put the top back on and bake it for 90 minutes. To serve, scrape some of the pumpkin up with the broth and put that in the bowls. It looks great sitting on the table.

First, I want to recommend "The complete vegetarian cookbook" because it has several great pumpkin recipes in it. And also the two cookbooks below from which i found these recipes.

Two recipes that i love: Pumpkin Risotto, and Pumpkin soup (as requested!)

Risotto with Roasted Pumpkin
serves 6
Ingredients
1 small-medium pumpkin (~1.5 pounds/750g)
7-8 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
3 cups Arborio or Carnaroli rice
1 cup dry white whine, at room temp
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400F (or 200C). Lightly oil shallow baking dish.
2. Cut pumpkin in half, remove seeds, place on baking sheet flat side down and bake until very soft (35-45 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool. Scoop out flesh and puree in blender or food processor. Set aside.
3. In saucepan over med heat, bring stock to gentle simmer and maintain over low heat.
4. In large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute until soft (~4minutes). Add rice and stir until each grain is coated with oil and translucent with a white dot in center, ~3 minutes. Add wine and stir until completely absorbed.
5. Add simmering stock, 1 ladleful at a time, stirring frequently. Wait until stock is almost fully absorbed before adding next ladleful. Reserve 1/4 cup stock to add at end.
6. When rice is tender to the bite but slightly firm in center and looks creamy (~20 minutes), stir in pumpkin puree. Cook to heat through, (~30 seconds). Remove from heat and stir in butter and remaining stock. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
from Williams-Sonoma Risotto (sub pumpkin for butternut squash)


Pumpkin Soup
serves 6, ~10 minutes prep, 30 minutes to cook
Ingredients:
~900g/2lb pumpkin
3 Tbsp butter
1 onion, sliced thinly
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 1/2 cups bouillon (vegetable is what the recipe calls for, but anything works)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3-4 thin strips of orange zest (optional)
1-2 bay leaves or 1 bouquet garni
1 1/4 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste
Garnish: 4-6 Tbsp cream or yogurt, snipped chives
Instructions:
1. Peel pumpkin, remove seeds, cut flesh into ~1 inch cubes (2.5cm)
2. Melt butter in large saucepan, add onion and garlic, cook over low heat until soft (not browned necessarily)
3. Add pumpkin, toss with onion for 2-3 minutes
4. Add bouillon, bring to boil over med heat. Season to taste with salt/pepper then add ginger, lemon juice, zest, bay leaves (or garni)
5. Cover pan, simmer gently over low heat for 20 minutes, stir occasionally until pumpkin is tender.
6. discard zest and bay leaves (or garni). cool soup slightly then press through strainer with back of a spoon or process in food procssor until smooth. Pour into clean pan.
7. Add milk and reheat gently. Adjust seasoning to taste. Garnish with swirl of cream or yogurt and sprinkle snipped chives. Serve!
From "1000 vegetarian recipes from around the world"

Pumpkin Curry
I can't seem to find my tried and true pumpkin curry recipe, but you can basically throw roasted pumpkin chunks into any curry recipes. I figured that you can choose a random recipe as well as i could-- try cooks.com, epicurious.com, cookinglight.com, or foodnetwork.com. Can easily sub in pumpkin for butternut squash.