Pumpkin part 1 - preparing a pumpkin the easy way, and pumpkin and chick pea tagine

My love for a bargain is alive and well, and in the days or weeks after Halloween you can usually pick up pumpkins for not much money. It's lucky that they keep quite well (especially if you store them somewhere cool) because it's taken me until now to cook something with it.

Peeling a pumpkin and removing the seeds and fibres from the middle can seem like a bit of a faff. My labour-saving tip for cooking a pumpkin is to cut it in half, take out all the seeds, and cut the whole thing into large wedges. Put the wedges on an oven tray (or two), skin side down, and bake in a medium-hot oven until the flesh feels soft when pierced with a fork (possibly 30-45 minutes, depending on the thickness of the wedges and the temperature of your oven).

The sugars in the pumpkin will caramelise slightly in the oven, which helps to bring out the flavour, and you don't get the sogginess you might from boiling or steaming. Once it's cooked, it's quite easy to cut off the skin with a sharp knife, which I find to be much quicker than peeling it when raw.

You then have lots of cooked pumpkin ready to use in all kinds of recipes - soup, risotto, pasta, pie... I think pumpkin goes brilliantly well with spices (and they will help a lot with flavour if your pumpkin is on the bland side).

The only thing to be careful of is that if you want whole pumpkin pieces in your final dish, don't cook the pumpkin too much more, otherwise it is liable to break up and turn to mush. But stir it carefully and all should be well.

Last night I made this tagine - healthy, fairly quick and great comfort food. If you can't get hold of a pumpkin, butternut squash works just as well. Check back in a few days and I'll let you know what else I made with the pumpkin.

Ingredients

2 cm piece root ginger, finely chopped
1 tsp hot chilli powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 tins chopped tomatoes
1 tin chick peas, drained
8 dried apricots, chopped (or you can use dates, or a mixture of both)
About 450g raw or cooked pumpkin, peeled and cut into large pieces.

Method

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the ginger. Cook for 1 minute and add the spices. Cook for one minute more and then add the tomatoes, dried fruit and drained chick peas. Add the pumpkin if you are using raw pumpkin.

Simmer for about 15 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. If you are using cooked pumpkin, add it now. Simmer for another five minutes, taste, check the pumpkin is completely tender (cook it a bit more if not), and adjust the spices if necessary.

Serve with couscous, or rice if you prefer.