P-p-p-p pick up a pumpkin

Anyone who knows me, knows I love a bit of the roadside action. You know, produce and general wierdness for sale outside people's houses.

Rudy and I pulled over for a bit of seasonal sweetcorn (which is great mashed with some garlic, black pepper and creme fraiche - babies love it). A mass of the orange boys caught my eye thus I thought it was rude not to part with £2.50 for my first pumpkin of the year.

But are you like me, and let it just sit on the side?? Mr Keith Abel from the mighty fine Abel & Cole has helped me right out. On a Monday as well. Thank you sir.

Do me a favour. Go out and get yourself a pumpkin and give these recipes a go. Save the seeds and plant them for next year. And if you have an extra minute, check out www.abelandcole.co.uk - they are offering 20% off their fat, mumma ass scrumptious pies at the moment. Because now our bodies are covered.

Pumpkin and Apple Soup with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

This is a pumpkin soup with a bit of character. It’s a bit like making a good risotto – straightforward if you read the recipe first. Needs a conversation with a friend and some music to help it turn out really well!

Other varieties of squash work nicely too. Try serving with the 45-minute Parmesan and Pumpkin Bread (below) to follow – that way, if you have a large pumpkin, you can make a whole meal of it.

Serves 4

• 3 English apples, peeled, cored and cut inot 2.5cm (1in) chunks

• ½ large or 1 whole small pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and cut into 5cm (2in) chunks (keep the seeds)

• A few glugs of olive oil

• Pinch of chilli flakes (more if you fancy), or you could use fresh chilli if you like, or a pinch of powder

• Drizzle of honey

• 1 ½ - 2 mugs (i.e. a standard coffee mug) of vegetable or chicken stock

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

• A little crème fraiche (optional) 

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/gas 7. 

2. Toss the apples and pumpkin in a few glugs of olive oil. Throw them into a roasting tin, sprinkle with the chilli and drizzle with honey. Brake in a hot oven for about 30 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender, turning it once or twice during the cooking time.

3. While the pumpkin is cooking, wash the seeds in a colander to remove the fleshy bits. Dry them on a clean tea towel and pop them into a medium to hot frying pan with a very small dash of oil. Shake these around for a few minutes or so, until they start to brown and pop. Remove them from the heat and season with a little salt.

4. Now put the contents of the roasting tin (scrape out every last bit) into a large saucepan. Add 1 mug of stock and simmer for about 15 minutes. Take it off the heat and give it a good blitz with one of those hand-held blenders, or use a food processor. Add more stock until you have the consistency you want for your soup. Season with salt and pepper, garnish with the toasted pumpkin seeds and a dollop of crème fraiche, and serve.

5-Minute Pumpkin and Parmesan Bread

So you cheated on the soup and bought it in a carton (they are rather good these days). This is how you show your friends you’re not a complete slacker.

Makes 1 loaf

• 1 1/3 mugs (i.e. a standard coffee mug) of self-raising flour

• Pinch of sea salt

• 1 mug of grated raw pumpkin

• ½ mug of roughly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for the topping

• Handful of chopped black olives

• 1 tbsp chopped rosemary

• 2 large eggs, whisked

• 1 tbsp milk

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas 5.

2. Mix the flour, salt, pumpkin, Parmesan, olives and rosemary in a large bowl. Now mix in the eggs and milk until they’re combined and have turned into a sticky ball.

3. Drop this onto a greased baking tray to form a round patty. Grate some Parmesan on top and dust with flour before baking on the middle shelf in the oven for 45-50 minutes. The loaf is ready when you tap the bottom and it makes a hallow sound. If the top starts to brown too much before the bread is ready, cover lightly with some foil. Let the bread cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

Custardy Pumpkin Pie

I spent many years wondering why on earth Americans love pumpkin pie. Then I tried this one and the whole thing made sense – most of them aren’t as lovely as this, but presumably everyone’s eaten something this good once, and goes on dreaming of it for the rest of their days. Pumpkin pie makes a fair bit of sense – the flesh is very sweet and rich, and obviously those are good qualities for a pie. This pie is great hot or cold.

Serves 6-8

• ½ small pumpkin, seeded (about 500g/1lb)

• ½ mug (i.e. a standard coffee mug) of sugar, or to taste

• 1 tbsp cornflour

• ½ tsp ground cinnamon

• ¼ tsp ground ginger

• 3 eggs, separated

• 1 tsp vanilla essence

• 310ml (10 1/2fl oz) milk

• ½ tsp ground nutmeg

The pastry:

• A pinch of salt

• 210g (7 1/2oz) flour

• 100g (4oz) cold butter

• 3-4 tbsp cold water

To serve:

• Whipped cream, double cream or ice cream

• Crystallised ginger

If you’re feeling lazy or just don’t want to make a pie base, skip the pastry bit, make the custard mixture, pour it into a buttered baking dish and cook as if it were the pie.

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas 5. Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds. Put a piece of aluminium foil on a baking sheet or in a large baking tin and pop the pumpkin onto it, cut side down. Cover well with more foil. Bake for about 1 hour or until the pumpkin is tender. While it’s baking, make your pie base.

2. To make your pastry, first mix the salt into the flour. Add the cold butter and cut it into the flour with two knives or give it a few blasts in a food processor. Slowly sprinkle in the cold water until the pastry just holds together. Take care not to handle the pastry too much or to over-process it. Pop the dough in a bag in the fridge for at least half an hour.

3. Roll out the dough on a floured surface and lift into a greased pie pan. Crimp the edges and prick the base all over with a fork, then pop into the bottom of the oven for 5-10 minutes. This should help your pastry stay crisp when you pour in the filling. If you want super-crunch for your pastry, brush some milk or egg white onto the pastry a couple of minutes before you take it out of the oven at this stage.

4. When the pumpkin is soft, hoik it out of the oven and let it cool a bit. Spoon out the pumpkin flesh and puree it in a food processor or press through a strainer, discarding the skin. Show the pumpkin no mercy at this stage – it must be super smooth! Weigh out 250ml (8fl oz) of the puree for this recipe and freeze any extra. (Pumpkin puree keeps nicely in the freezer, so you can simply defrost any extra when you feel like another pie, or throw it into bread or muffins when you are baking.)

5. Once the puree has cooled, stir in the sugar, cornflour, cinnamon and ginger. Then mix in the egg yolks, vanilla essence and milk. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy, but not stiff. Gently fold in the pumpkin mixture. Pour into the pie base and sprinkle nutmeg on top.

6. Bake at 210C/410F gas 6 ½ for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 180C/350F/gas 4 and bake for a further 30 minutes, or until set in the middle and lightly browned at the edges. Serve with fresh whipped cream, double cream or ice cream and a few chunks of crystallized ginger.