Pumpkin, the autumn queen

Recipe by LMF Press Luxury Mainstream Fashion

With the end of summer fruit and vegetables and the arrival of autumn, it is the time of some seasonal proposals. Pumpkin is certainly one of them. There are different varieties of this vegetable and it is ideal for various dishes preparation. Last and not least, pumpkin is full of nutritional properties for a human organism as well.

The pumpkin properties

Pumpkin can be eaten cooked or raw. It is very useful for our immune system, facilitates digestion and has an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant function. It is a food rich in beta-carotene, that means full of vitamin A, C, D, and E; then there is no shortage of mineral salts like potassium, zinc and calcium.

The recipes

Nowadays there are 800 varieties of pumpkin, subdivided in 15 species. Of these species, 5 are edible and 3 are mostly widespread. There are a lot of methods to prepare and to delight our palate with this vegetable: for example, you can decide to prepare a side dish in a pan. It is possible to taste pumpkin in a few minutes: just heat a drop of oil in a pan with a garlic clove and then add diced pumpkin with rosemary. After a few minutes over high heat, simmer with white wine until reduced and evaporate the alcohol. Then cover with the lid on and proceed to cook for 5 minutes as long as the pumpkin will be soft, but not mushy.

The pureed pumpkin soup

The pureed pumpkin soup is another preparation that you will be able to make easily in autumn and in winter: for its preparation you would need to have not only a pumpkin, but also some potatoes, vegetable broth and different condiments. You can serve this dish with delicious small pieces of toasted bread! In this case, you have to brown shallot into a small pot and then add chopped pumpkin and a chopped potato. After you browned both for 2 minutes, you can continue to cook with the addition of vegetable broth and rosemary. By 15-20 minutes everything will become soft and you will be able to season with salt, nutmeg, black pepper and also cinnamon at your own discretion. At this point eliminate a rosemary sprig and blend everything with an immersion blender until you get the right soup solidity to serve with your small pieces of toasted bread taken out from the oven.

But how to store the pumpkin?

If you have bought or picked a great pumpkin off the vegetable garden, you can store it for longer: just find a cool and dry place. Alternatively, you can prepare and freeze some pieces to use for a risotto or a tasty soup when needed. Now all you can do is to cook a flavoury pumpkin!