Pumpkin Lovin' Recipe: Baked Pumpkin Slices

Let me start this series of recipes with a recipe that magically transports me back home into my childhood when this particular dish was one of the most favorite foods of my dearest granddad Nagyapuska as well as it still is one the of the favorites of my beloved mum Anyuci. Just the aroma that fills the apartment while preparing this oh so simple yet delicious and healthy dish magically brings back so many heart-warming memories of my childhood... 

It is a very simple recipe and a healthy and cheap one as well... 

...and seriously: all you need is a pumpkin. 

Ingredients:
1 pumpkin :-)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. 

2. Find a really strong and sharp knife and cut the pumpkin in half first. 

3. You will see how in the middle of the pumpkin there are seeds and what can be called 'guts'. Spoon all of this out into a separate bowl (no need to throw any of it into the garbage - I will post recipes above that will show you how to utilize the entire pumpkin without wasting any of it!)
4. Now that you have a hollow pumpkin half cut it up into small pieces - 10cm/4in long strips that will be easy to hold and eat with your hands.
5. Place the pumpkin pieces on parchment paper on a baking tray and bake int he oven for about 30-45 minutes or till golden and soft (if you poke a fork into one of the pieces it should have the consistency of a overcooked potato :-))

Variation: I remember we used to eat the pumpkin just plain: without any oil or butter as well as without any spices... honestly the taste of the pumpkin is rich and unique and I don't think it needs any addition... 

HOWEVER: if you want, you can have two variations of this recipe by adding simple touches: 

1) Savory snack: by adding olive oil or butter and salt or even pepper or chili this can become a healthy afternoon or game day snack. 

2) Healthy desert: by adding honey, maple syrup or brown sugar as well as cinnamon, cardamon, cloves or vanilla you can easily transform this dish into a healthy and unique desert.

Note: This is also the basis of how to prepare pumpkin puree that can be later used for a bunch of different recipes - I will post more about this later...

ENJOY! ... and let me know how you liked it or if you have any suggestions... :-) 

PS: Soon I will post a Fact-Sheet about the health benefits of pumpkins - once you check that out you will be even more pleased knowing that this scrumptious dish also benefits you :-) 

Pumpkin Lovin' Recipe: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

As I mentioned earlier there is no need to throw out any part of the pumpkin really! Especially not the seeds! Just wait for the Fact-Sheet about the seeds only and you will be convinced that it would be shame to waste all that healthy yumminess :-) 

For this recipe you don't even need a pumpkin - that's how simple it is! :-) 

Ingredients:
The seeds of 1 pumpkin :-)

1/2 teaspoon of olive oil

A pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. 

2. Whatever you do with a pumpkin - the seeds are your leftovers: Clean the pumpkin-guts off of the seeds but don't wash them (the pumpkin juice that is a little bit around them will make the salt and pepper stick to the seed and thus encapsulate the taste). 

3. In a bowl: mix the pumpkinseeds with olive oil, salt and pepper (or spices of your choosing).

4. Place the pumpkin seeds on parchment paper on a baking tray and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or till golden.

Variation: I remember my mum preparing this without any oil and only adding a little bit of salt at the very end once the seeds were already roasted. I on the other hand really like the tiny spicyness of the pepper - as I really think pumpkin and pepper go very well together - but I can certainly imagine you variating this to your liking with whatever spices you prefer! 

Just have fun with it and let me know what combinations you come up with :-) 

Note: By the way: these roasted lumpkin seeds are not only delicious as a snack (instead of the calorie packed nuts or the unhealthy chips) but also as a fancy topping for you classical pumpkin soup. Believe me, it's delicious and it gives the soup a fun crunch! 

ENJOY! 

Pumpkin Lovin' Recipe: Pumpkin (Cranberry ChocChip etc etc etc) Bread

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour (leveled and sifted) 

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1 1/2 cup (brown) sugar

3 eggs, slightly beaten

20 oz fresh pumpkin puree

1 cup of greek yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup oil

1 cup chocolate chips 

1 cup cup dried cranberries 

Note: Before you start with the Pumpkin Bread, you need to prepare your Pumpkin puree: Find the instructions here. 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. 

TIP: Before you start combining all the ingredients, take a small bowl and add the chocolate chips and the dried cranberries (and / or any other yumminess you want to add to the bread at the end - like pistachios or nuts or figs...). Add a couple of spoons of flour and mix it all well so that every ChocChip and every cranberry is well coated with flour. This is the trick how to prevent all these toppings to sink to the bottom of the bread. For some magical reason the flour coating will keep them levitating in the dough ensuring a quite regular distribution of the goodies. It's a genius trick and it really works! 

2. In a smaller bowl combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. 

TIP: I use a sifter to make sure the flour doesn't have lumps. I also add the other ingredients between the cups of flour to sift them trough and ensure that all the dry ingredients are mixed well and evenly. 

3. In a bigger bowl add the sugar and eggs - whisk them smooth and creamy - and then mix in the other wet ingredients: pumpkin puree, greek yogurt, vanilla extract and oil. 

4. Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix together. Be careful to not overmix the dough - at this point I don't use the electric mixer but just a wooden spoon to stir it all together gently. 

5. Now spray two loaf pans (or any baking form really - I like to use my bunt cake pan and it looks great!) with nonstick spray or use some butter to wipe the pan and then dust some flour over it so the bread can come out of the pan easily when it's done. 

5. As a very last step gently stir the chocolate chips and cranberries into the dough. Fill your baking form to 3/4 with the dough - the bread will rise a little while baking. 

6. Bake for 45-60 minutes. Use the skewer test to see when the bread is done to perfection: by poking e bread with a wooden skewer and checking the consistency of the dough in the heart of it... 

Variation: I really like the combination of pumpkin, cranberry and chocolate chip (I use the the dark chocolate chips because they are not too sweet) but as I mentioned above - you can add other goodies as well: like different kinds of nuts or other dried fruit... Just have fun with it and add whatever your favorite goodies may be :-) 

ENJOY!