Pimp your Autumn with Pumpkin – Inspiration & Roasted Pumpkin Spaghetti

 

Hey there, pumpkin lovers!

I just wanted to take a moment to express my deep and undying love for pumpkins. It’s been a love affair that’s been going strong for about six years now.

It all started when I hugged a Hokkaido pumpkin and ended up making an adorable pumpkin pie. From there, I couldn’t stop experimenting with this versatile and delicious ingredient.

But, I know that some of my friends and people I’ve met, especially here in Denmark, don’t really know what to do with a pumpkin. Some of them have never even tasted it! So, I thought it would be a great idea to pull together all of the pumpkin recipes from my blog and come up with new and exciting ways to use pumpkin. This includes a new, very easy recipe for pumpkin spaghetti.

So, why is pumpkin so amazing? First of all, it looks stunning – like an Autumn Forest Queen. It’s packed with nutrients, like beta-carotene (which eventually turns into vitamin A in the body), potassium, and vitamin C. And it’s incredibly low in calories – only 26 kcal per 100g. This means you can eat as much of it as you want without feeling guilty! It has a delicious sweet taste and is easy to cook and use in all sorts of ways, from desserts to dinner meals. And, many people don’t know that you can eat the peel of pumpkins like Hokkaido and butternut squash, which makes it easier to prepare and lets us keep even more of those amazing nutrients.

So, come along and get pumpkin-inspired…

Breakfast Meals: Pumpkin is perfect for breakfast. The sweet taste of it pairs great with many breakfast meals like pancakes, scones, muffins, and porridge. There are many ways to add pumpkin to these meals, and the most used is either grated or puree. You can make pumpkin puree by baking or boiling the pumpkin until tender and then blending it until you have a puree. Store in the fridge for up to 5 days. To make pumpkin porridge, simply add 50-100g of grated or pureed pumpkin to your porridge while making it. And for an extra delicious twist, add some warm spices like cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, or ginger, which pair wonderfully with pumpkin and give it that familiar pumpkin pie flavor.

Savory Meals: As soon as autumn rolls around, I begin to include pumpkin in almost every other savory meal that I eat. I love the versatility of pumpkin and I guess I love the sweetness and comfort it provides too. My go-to preparation is certainly Baked Pumpkin Fries, which takes 2 min to prepare and 20 min to cook. I also use these baked pumpkin fries, or smaller pieces of baked pumpkin, in whole and rich salads. My Pumpkin and Feta Salad and Mixed Super Salad are definitely those I love and make the most, and they are great for the lunchbox, too, due to the rich and not-watery ingredients. If you’re looking for a lovely pumpkin comfort meal, I highly recommend this Stuffed Hokkaido with a golden cheese layer or a warm and comforting Pumpkin Soup. You can also incorporate it into all kinds of stews, and I have often made this Sweet Potato Bowl, replacing the sweet potatoes with Hokkaido. And, a new favorite of mine is pumpkin spaghetti. You can make it by using a spiralizer or julienne peeler to make long spaghetti strips – and the recipe is included at the bottom of this post.

Dessert: Just as with the breakfast recipes, pumpkin goes very well in desserts too. You might have seen the Sweet Potato Brownie I posted last week – well, you can replace the sweet potato with pumpkin and have the same delicious result. You can incorporate pumpkin into many baked goods, like pumpkin muffins, pumpkin scones, pumpkin cakes, and pumpkin pies. As a rule of thumb, you can replace grated carrots in carrot cakes and muffins with grated pumpkin, or replace some of the oil or butter in a recipe with pumpkin puree. One of my favorite pumpkin dessert recipes is this Pumpkin Cheesecake, it’s a must-try!

I hope this post has inspired you to start experimenting with pumpkins in your cooking and baking. It’s such a versatile and delicious ingredient that can be used in so many different ways.

Don’t be afraid to get creative and try new things!

Let me know in the comments what your favorite pumpkin recipe is or if you have any questions about how to use pumpkin in your cooking.

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Roasted Pumpkin Spaghetti

Pimp your Autumn with Pumpkin – Inspiration & Roasted Pumpkin Spaghetti
Course Main Course, Salad
Servings 4
Calories 116kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 hokkaido or butternut squash
  • 2 tbsp organic butter
  • A handful of finely chopped herbs sage & rosemary are perfect
  • 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

Instructions

  • Wash your pumpkin. Use a mandolin or julienne peeler to make spaghetti out of the pumpkin. Alternatively you can coarsely grate it.
  • Heat a skillet, add the butter and garlic and sauté for 1 min. Add the pumpkin and herbs and sauté for 3-5 min, depending on how tender you want it. I prefer it al dente – and it might end up a little mashed it you give it too long. But you can vary as you please. Serve the spaghetti with a lovely piece of meat or simply as a side dish to whatever you prefer.

Nutrition

Calories: 116kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 0.4g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.04g | Sodium: 14mg | Potassium: 1190mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 4648IU | Vitamin C: 42mg | Calcium: 95mg | Iron: 2mg