Cambridge Style Magazine features Seasonal Pumpkin Recipe by Shaun Cook, Head Chef at Queens’ College

Date: 14/10/2009

Make sure you pick up a copy of this October's Style Magazine to see Shaun Cook’s mouth watering Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Crumble.

Halloween is a great excuse to dress up as creatures from the underworld, play games like apple bobbing and go trick-or-treating. One popular custom is to make a lantern out of a pumpkin, put a candle inside it and display in a window to ward off ghosts and goblins.

Shaun explains that “Pumpkins are very versatile in their uses for cooking as most of the pumpkin is edible from their fleshy shell to the seeds and even their flowers. They are a healthy alternative to potatoes and a great ingredient for making wholesome comfort food during the autumn and winter months.”

Click here to view the article

Here are two more recipes created by Shaun Cook and are perfect ways of using up leftover pumpkin once you have made your Halloween lantern.

Thai Style Pumpkin Soup – Serves 6

1 kg Pumpkin diced
1 onion sliced
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp grated ginger
2 sticks lemon grass
½ bunch of coriander
1 red chilli de seeded & chopped
400ml can coconut milk
500ml vegetable or chicken stock

Heat a little oil in pan and fry off onion, garlic, ginger, lemongrass and chilli until fragrant. Add pumpkin and cook for a further 3-5 minutes. Add stock, bring to boil and simmer for 15 minutes until pumpkin is cooked. Cool slightly, and then blend until smooth. Pass through a sieve, return to pan, add coconut milk, check seasoning and warm through.

Pumpkin Pie – Serves 8

1x 9inch pastry tin lined with short crust pastry
1.5kg pumpkin
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
4 eggs
235ml honey slightly warmed
120ml milk
120ml double cream

Dice pumpkin and bake in the oven in a lightly oiled tray with a little water, covered in foil until tender. Cool a little. Scrape flesh from skin and either mash or puree until smooth. In a large mixing bowl, mix together 500ml of pumpkin puree, spices and salt. Beat in eggs, honey, milk and cream. Pour into pastry case and bake for aprox 45 minutes at 180° C. Cool on wire rack before serving.