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Richmond baker shares his pumpkin recipes

Tis the day after Halloween and the carved pumpkin that brought a smile on the faces of little ghosts and goblins is about to become a shrunken gourd. Pumpkins are full of potassium and vitamins A and C.

Tis the day after Halloween and the carved pumpkin that brought a smile on the faces of little ghosts and goblins is about to become a shrunken gourd.

Pumpkins are full of potassium and vitamins A and C.

Rather than throw it in the garbage (see below for ways to compost the leftover pumpkin), why not use it to make a piping hot soup or muffins?

The News asked baker/chef Hemant Rao of the Steveston Bakery to provide us with a couple of recipes.

He obliged. Bon appetit everyone.

Pumpkin Ginger Soup

(serves 10)

Ingredients:

z 1,920 ml (8 cups) vegetable or chicken stock

z 1,000 to 1,500 grams (2-3 lbs) pumpkin peeled and grated

z 1 medium chopped onion

z 60 ml (4 tbsp) olive oil

z 250 ml (1 cup) grated carrots

z 45 ml (3 tbsp) finely diced ginger

z 1 medium grated potato

z 15 ml (1 tbsp) seasoning salt

z 5 ml (1 tsp) pepper

z 15 ml (1 tbsp) turmeric

z 250 ml (1 cup) heavy cream

Method:

Sauté onion until lightly browned. Add garlic and ginger and sauté for one minute. Add turmeric and one cup of stock.

Bring to a boil and add salt, pepper, carrot, potato and pumpkin. Cook for five minutes, while constantly stirring.

Add remaining cups of stock and bring to a boil.

Turn heat down to simmer until cooked, approximately 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper as desired and then add cream at the very end.

Pumpkin Filling

For pies, tarts or your favourite muffin recipe (two large pies or 2 1/2 dozen tarts or muffins)

Ingredients:

z 908 grams (2 lbs) cooked and pureed pumpkin

z 10 whole eggs

z 1/2 litre (2.1 cups) cream

z 15 ml (1 tbsp) ginger ground

z 15 ml (1 tbsp) allspice

z 7.5 ml (1/2 tbsp) nutmeg

z 600 ml (2 1/2 cups) golden yellow sugar

Method:

Pour cream into large bowl and then add ground ginger, ground allspice and ground nutmeg into bowl.Mix well.

Add eggs to mixture as well as your cooked and pureed pumpkin. Mix well.

Add golden yellow sugar. For pies, bake at 180 C (350 F) for 25-30 minutes; for tarts or muffins, 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, Metro Vancouver offers tips to on what to do with your Jack O Lantern on Nov. 1:

If even one-quarter of the households in Metro Vancouver carve a pumpkin this Halloween, that translates to approximately 200,000 pumpkins or 1,000 metric tones of shriveled up ones the next day.

If pumpkins are thrown in the garbage, they end up rotting in the dump, causing them to generate methane gas a greenhouse gas said to cause global warming.

Instead, chop up your pumpkin and place it in your composter or drop chunks into your garden as a natural fertilizer.

If you do wish to throw it out, the City of Richmond will accept it with your yard trimmings on your regular garbage pick up.

For tips on how to compost, visit www.richmond.ca or www.metrovancouver.org and check out the food recycling/composting pages.