Oily Rag: Pumpkin's a frugal fave

Pumpkin can be pureed, baked, made into soup - the possibilities are endless.

We are having fun watching giant pumpkins grow larger by the day. The giant ones are not very edible, but the kids get pretty excited when they see pumpkins growing larger than they are.

But, of course, the oily rag garden is not without its ordinary culinary pumpkin for the kitchen. Here are tips that will turn that under-appreciated gem into a delicious treat.

D.F. from Whakatane has sent in this pumpkin pie recipe. "My daughter-in-law served this pumpkin pie dish with a barbecue when we were last in Cape Town, but her children eat it for pudding. This recipe serves 12. Ingredients: 4 cups pumpkin/butternut, 1 cup flour, 4 teaspoons baking powder, pinch of salt, half a cup of sugar, 3 to 4 eggs, beaten, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Cook and mash pumpkin. Sift in flour, baking powder and salt. Add sugar and beaten eggs. Pour into pie dish; sprinkle cinnamon on top. Bake at 180C until edges pull away from pie dish - about an hour."

K.J. from Wellington recommends these muffins. "You will need 2 cups of flour, 1 and a 1/2 cups sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 egg, 3/4 cup milk, 1/4 cup cooking oil, 1/2 cup cooked and mashed pumpkin, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg. Mix all dry ingredients together and pumpkin, milk, oil and egg in another bowl. Make a well in the centre of the dry mix and add wet mixture. Stir to form a batter then place large spoonfuls in greased muffin tins. Bake at 200C for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. This mix makes about 10 muffins."

Instead of buying expensive baby food, buy cheap fruit and vegetables (second grade or really ripe) and puree.

Pumpkin is a favourite, and cheap when compared to the cost of buying baby food in supermarkets at between $1.50 and $2 for 120g. You can imagine how much that adds up to, and how much you could save if you make your own from a home-grown pumpkin.

Being a starchy vegetable pumpkin is delicious baked (other veges that bake well are potatoes, yams, carrots and kumara). Give the veges a good scrub to avoid that crunchy sensation when eating, then brush with oil and bake at about 200C.

Pumpkins in the garden like sun and lots of rich compost, but after picking, store them in a nice cool, dry place.

We reckon it's hard to go past a pumpkin soup with homemade bread as a dipper. A reader has sent in this recipe. All you need is an onion, chopped into little pieces, 3-4 cups of water, a dash of curry powder (which translates into 1 teaspoon) and half a dash of nutmeg. Oh, and about a kilogram of pumpkin.

Peel pumpkin and slice into pieces. Put into a saucepan with onion, cover with water and bring to the boil. Leave to simmer until pumpkin is soft. Put into a blender, add nutmeg and curry powder, and whizz until smooth.

For a variation, reduce the amount of pumpkin and add carrots, or a potato or two.

GP writes, "Pumpkins freeze well. Cut into meal-sized pieces, clean the pulp from the centres and freeze in plastic bags. Do not thaw before using - put straight into water or a roasting dish for cooking. Alternatively, pulp the pumpkins, freeze in ice cream containers and use for soup or jam as the time permits."

If you have a favourite frugal recipe or oily rag tip that works well for your family, share it with thousands of others by sending it to us at www.oilyrag.co.nz, or by writing to us at Living off the Smell of an Oily Rag, PO Box 984, Whangarei, and we will relay it to the avid readers of this column.