Here's what to do with your Pumpkin Meat after carving & 2 recipes

If you are carving a pumpkin for Halloween, here are a few idea what to do with your Pumpkin meat after carving it. 

I know I've been away from blogging and visiting blogs but I've decided to work on my e-book again.  I started reading tutorials before summer but found it very difficult and gave up.

The economic crisis here in Greece, has put all of us in depression mood, making us feel sad, anxious about our future but with other emotions as well such as feeling empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable,  restless and losing interest in activities that once were pleasurable to us. 

My reaction to this situation is to post on Facebook jokes and funny placards, mostly in Greek about the prime minister, the government and the whole economic crisis, Merkel and the Troika.  

(The word has been taken from the Russian carriage,  pulled by three horses.  In this case the three groups i.e. the European Commission (EC), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the European Central Bank (ECB), who have the most power over Greece's financial future).  Something to give us hope and lift our spirit!

We have become the guinea pigs of Europe and soon other countries will follow as well. 

Our salaries and pensions have been cut by 30%, so we have to try more and find out ways to add something more to our income.  We Greeks, are not lazy as they want to present us in Europe but we are hard working but what can we do when there are no jobs?

On my part, I've decided to give my e-book another try and if I manage to publish it, then I may hope on adding something to our income but also keeping my mind busy and not thinking of what is ahead of us.

I am back to reading tutorials again and I think I'm on the right track this time, so forgive me if I am not always around.  I will keep posting recipes but not regularly.  Maybe 2 or 3 times a month.

My son lives in England and he e-mailed me today asking me what to do with the pumpkin meat, after he carves his pumpkin to make a jack-o-lantern.

We don't celebrate Halloween in Greece but Happy Halloween to all of you celebrating.  However, today is a National Holiday in Greece celebrating OXI (ochi) day.  Chronia Polla to all Greeks.

Our flag has a black ribbon attached to it.  This is a sign of mourning, as we are mourning about our future and the future of our children.

Now back to the pumpkin.  I am telling you exactly what I replied to  my son:

First of all you can freeze the pumpkin meat and use it raw whenever you like, in recipes like pumpkin risotto, pumpkin stew, pumpkin curry etc.

You can also steam the meat for about half an hour until it is soft and then purée it with some lemon juice, but if it's too much you can also freeze the purée.  You can use it in a lot of recipes such as pies, cakes, bread, soups.  

I know my son doesn't have a steamer or casserole, so I told him to wrap it in aluminum foil, without water, and cook it in a preheated oven to 180^o C / 350^o for about an hour, until the pumpkin becomes soft. 

Then to purée it in a food processor or mash it with a potato masher or a fork.

Here is a link I sent him to get some ideas and I promised to post some older recipes I made a few years ago but never posted.  Sorry for the bad pictures but these were taken 2 years ago.

The first recipe is a dessert made with phyllo, shaped into flutes, filled with pumpkin and cheese and sweetened with syrup.

 

The second recipe is a savory pumpkin pie with cheese.

Other similar recipes:

Tyropita

Beef in dark beer in a Sweet and Sour Pumpkin Sauce

Kolokythopita (Pumpkin Pie)

Badjina, the naked pie

Autumn Pie

Greek Fava and Pumpkin Soup

Pumpkin Potato Puree

PIN FOR LATER

Kopiaste and Kali Orexi,