If you’re anything like me, you’ll be stressing out about how wasteful our festive seasons are. Everyone just ends up binning their carved out pumpkins as soon as halloween has passed, with no regards to the fact that the artwork could actually create a pretty delicious meal.
Here are 5 tasty student meals using pumpkin as a base.
PUMPKIN BROWNIE
All you really need to do to get a fudgy pumpkin brownie is to follow your usual method of making brownies, but just add pumpkin. Either cut the pumpkin into chunks, or cook then mash it up furiously and mix it into the batter. If you’re lazy and on a tight budget, why not just use an already made brownie mix, and add pumpkin to it. This means you’re making a brownie out of two ingredients – simple!
LENTIL AND PUMPKIN SOUP
This is a great meal to make since it really follows the no waste rule by including the pumpkin seeds. For vegans, replace the crème fraîche for a dairy free alternative, or just discard it completely. Head over to the BBC website to start making this simple and nutrient packed meal.
SALAD A LA PUMPKIN
Making this pumpkin salad is pretty easy and fast considering how delicious the end result is. You want to roast the pumpkin, so cut it up into small cubes, place it on a baking tray along with lots of oil. Season with salt and pepper, and pop it into the preheated 200C fan oven (220C for standard) for around 30 minutes, all the while flipping the cubes over from time to time until golden. Whilst the pumpkin is cooking, toast some pine nuts in a pan – you don’t need oil for this. Finally, in a bowl place the spinach, pumpkin, pine nuts and feta together. Top it all with a homemade dressing of oil, balsamic vinegar and honey.
It sounds incredible doesn’t it? So go ahead and make it!
ONE POT PUMPKIN PASTA (plus a bowl and blender)
As a student, I understand that minimal uses of pots and pans are ideal, therefore this recipe for pumpkin pasta not only sounded incredible but student friendly too. However, the recipe says to use pumpkin puree. So, to do this relatively quickly, pop the chopped up pumpkin into a microwaveable bowl with some water, cover with cling film, and bang it in the microwave for 15 minutes. You can then blend this up and carry on with the recipe!
PUMPKIN RISOTTO
Once again, risotto is an easy and cheap meal to make as a student. Follow your risotto recipe of frying onions and garlic first, followed by adding the rice and broth. Add chunks of pumpkin along with any other veg you would like with it (aubergines or mushroom). Keep adding the broth and carry this on until the pumpkin is cooked, which should take around 20 minutes. Serve with parmesan, seasoning and parsley.
As you can see, there are some delicious easy meals that you can make with pumpkin as the star of the show. So please, use pumpkin carving as a way to enjoy a festive meal!
Sources:
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/creamy-pumpkin-lentil-soup
http://www.recipetineats.com/roast-pumpkin-spinach-and-feta-salad/