3 delicious pumpkin recipes to warm up the autumn days

Autumn is here, and chances are you won't get by without cooking with the season’s most iconic ingredient. Whether you're scratching your head thinking how to make use of the Halloween pumpkins, or simply fancy a heartwarming soup when the weather gets colder, we have three recipes to help you out .

Pumpkin 'fudge'

This dessert is inspired by a Chinese and Japanese sweet called yang geng (羊羹) which is traditionally made with chestnuts, sweet peas or sweet potatoes. Perhaps most similar to fudge, these cakes go nicely with green tea. 

Ingredients (serves 2)

300g pumpkin (skin and seeds removed) 

10g gelatin sheet (vegetarian: 10g of agar) 

30g granulated sugar 

Method

1. Soak the gelatin sheet in cold water until it softens. 

2. Cook the pumpkin by steaming or microwaving. Drain and mash together with the granulated sugar. 

3. Place the softened gelatin sheet in a pan over low heat until the sheet has completely dissolved. Once that is done, stir the liquid gelatin into the sweetened pumpkin mash and mix well. 

4. Place the mixture into the fridge and let it chill for two hours or more until it sets.

Pumpkin tartlets

Ingredients (makes four tartlets) 

For the pastry:

150g light flout (non bread flour)

75g unsalted butter

1 egg yolk

45ml milk

For the filling:

350g pumpkin mash (cooked)

3 egg yolks

20g unsalted butter (melted)

90g light cream

20-40g granulated sugar to taste

1 tablespoon rum

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Method

To make the pastry:

1. Whisk the egg yolk with the butter until the mixture is light and fluffy. 

2. Sieve flour into the mixture and blend with your hands. The dough should be fairly soft to the touch. Add a dash of cold milk if it's too hard.

3. Bring the dough together into a ball, cover with cling film and place in the fridge for an hour (overnight if possible). 

4. Once the dough has set, roll it out into a three millimetre-thin sheet. Cut round shapes out of the pastry that are the same in diameter as your pastry tins. Place the round pastry shapes firmly in tins. Use a fork to poke holes in the pastry so it bakes evenly. 

To make the filling:

1. Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until even. 

2. Once the pastry has cooled, fill tins up by carefully spooning in the mixture. Put the tartlets back into the oven and bake at 180 degrees for another ten minutes. 

3. Let the tartlets cool before serving. Enjoy! 

Pumpkin shiitake bowl

Great as a main dish for the family to enjoy this fall, the fried rice in this recipe gives it a hearty kick while the edible pumpkin bowl adds a naturally sweet flavour. A must-try. 

Ingredients (serves 2)

One small pumpkin (for serving) 

3 dried shiitake mushrooms 

40g uncooked bacon 

80g cooked brown rice 

160g cooked basmati rice 

Salt and light soy sauce to taste 

Water 

Method

1. Soak the mushrooms in filtered water overnight for at least six hours. In the morning,slice the softened shiitake into strips. Keep the shiitake water. 

2. To make the pumpkin bowl, cut off the upper third of the pumpkin, then remove the seeds from the lower two-thirds and wash. Steam and set aside the pumpkin to be used as a container. 

To make the fried rice, dice the bacon and fry in a wok over low heat, stirring every so often to ensure enough grease is released to cover the bottom of the wok. Add the brown rice, basmati rice and shiitake to the wok and stir-fry for two to three minutes. 

3. Pour the rice mixture into a pot (ideally clay). Stir in salt, soy sauce and the shiitake water to taste. Make sure the rice mixture doesn’t have too much water in it to avoid a soggy texture. 

4. Bring the mixture to a boil on the stove then simmer on low heat for five minutes (with the lid on). Remove from heat and let the rice cool for another 15 minutes. 

5. Scoop rice into the steamed pumpkin bowls and serve hot. Garnishings like parsley or coriander optional.

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