All About Pumpkins + a recipe!

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Bonjour beautiful people and welcome to a nutrition-related blog. For all of my Northern-hemisphere readers, Fall is a time for seasonal produce such as blackberries, leeks, apples, and the star of today’s post: the pumpkin! This humble member of the Cucurbitaceae family has been blessing our tables for generations making occasions a bit more festive and colorful. So for today’s post, I’d like to share some pumpkin tidbits, fun ways to prepare it, and at the end give you all a recipe that makes use of the gorgeous gourd. 

Let’s kick things off with some interesting pumpkin trivia:

  • Pumpkins are usually orange but can sometimes be yellow, white, green or red.

  • The word "pumpkin" showed up for the first time in the fairy tale Cinderella.

  • The name pumpkin comes from the Greek word ‘pepon’, meaning ‘large melon’.

  • Pumpkins have thick shells which contain pulp and seeds.

  • Scientifically speaking, pumpkins are a fruit (they contain seeds) but when it comes to cooking, they are often referred to as vegetables.

  • Pumpkins are grown on every continent except Antarctica.

  • There are more than 45 different varieties of pumpkin.

The pumpkin is wonderfully versatile and can be used in a host of ways. Whether you’ve bought the whole fruit or just the seeds, you can incorporate pumpkin into many of your dishes. As far as the whole pumpkin goes you can chop it up, roast it and use it in salads, sprinkled with curry for a spicy side dish, or blend it into a soup (see recipe below). The seeds inside can be scooped out, salted and roasted to make pepitas that can then be thrown into salads or used as a topping for your next smoothie bowl. Another fun fact: the entire pumpkin (skin, seeds, and stem) is edible so make sure not to waste any ;) 

And as promised, I’ve included a pumpkin recipe from my cookbook Travel to Table so that you can start whipping up your own festive meals at home asap. I hope you enjoy!

Curry Pumpkin Soup

Prep: 20 min Total: 1 hour 20 min

gluten free, vegetarian, heart healthy

Serves: 4-6 

2 T butter

1 T olive oil

1 white or yellow onion, roughly chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 lbs (1 kg) whole pumpkin (about 1 small pumpkin) skin on, cleaned (option to set aside pumpkin seeds to make pepitas*)  

3 medium leeks, cleaned and chopped

1 large red apple, peeled, cored and chopped

6 cardamom seeds (or 1/2 tsp cardamom powder)

1 bay leaf

2 T curry powder

4 cups (1 L) vegetable stock*

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup (125 g) white yogurt of your choosing

Sauté the onion in the butter and olive oil in a large stock pot over high heat for 3-5 minutes, or until golden. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute over medium heat. 

Add the leeks and stir. Let them cook for about 3 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin cubes and apple chunks. Mix well.

Add the spices and stir for about 1 minute. Add the stock and stir to combine. 

Bring the soup to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, covered, for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pumpkin and apple are soft.  

Remove the bay leaf and use a handheld immersion blender to puree the soup in the pot, until smooth. 

Stir in the yogurt by hand, season with salt and pepper and top with your favorite fixings. Serve immediately. 

*Pepitas: preheat the oven to 350º F / 177º C. Place the pumpkin seeds in the sink in a strainer and run water over them to remove the pumpkin residue. Dry the seeds with a towel and place them in a small bowl. Stir in enough olive oil to lightly coat them and spread them out on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Place in the oven for 10 - 15 minutes until they are toasted, giving them a shake halfway through. Once they are done, sprinkle them with salt and store in a jar at room temperature for 1-2 weeks. 

Recipe notes: 

*If you’re using a store-bought vegetable stock, opt for a low-sodium variety. If you only have access to standard stock, don’t add salt. If you are using a low-sodium variety, add 1 teaspoon of salt while the veggies cook.

I love to add a drizzle of pumpkin oil, pepitas* (toasted pumpkin seeds) and chili flakes to my soup.

If you are making the soup as a meal prep, leave out the yogurt and add it only before eating. 

This soup will last 3-4 days, refrigerated, in an airtight container.

Thank you all for stopping by this week and I hope that you picked up a fun pumpkin tidbit or two. What’s you favorite way to use the pumpkin? I’d love to hear down below. And if you make the curry pumpkin soup please tag me on social media (@alexandratempletonfit)- it makes me so happy to see you all recreating my recipes :)

See you all here next Tuesday for a new blog!

xoxo,

Alexandra 

Sources:

1. “Fun Pumpkin Facts for Kids - Interesting Information about Pumpkins.” Science Kids - Fun Science & Technology for Kids!, 2019, www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/food/pumpkins.html 

2. Hawkins, Amanda, and Sarah Schreiber. “16 Pumpkin Facts That'll Make You Say ‘Oh My Gourd.’” Good Housekeeping, 15 Oct. 2018, www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/a22544/facts-about-pumpkins/