Pumpkin, butternut & squash by Elsa Petersen-Schepelern

This book is devoted entirely to the veritable pumpkin and its relations and proves that there is life beyond lanterns at Halloween. It is a vegetable that should be given cooking space and is easily capable of standing on its own. Some are bursting with flavour, some are delicate, and Pumpkin, butternut and squash is full of suggestions as to how we can make the most of this versatile family of vegetables.

The best pumpkins are those with skins of blue-grey, grey or dark green as they have a full meaty flavour. The orange ones that appear at the end of October are probably better reserved for Halloween, as they tend to be stringy and tasteless. Pumpkin seed oil has been on the supermarket shelves for a while; try it. It has a delicious nutty flavour.

With thirty recipes, pumpkin in every conceivable guise is covered.

What can you do with all those seeds? Elsa Petersen-Schepelern has the answer.

Roast them but make sure they are butternut seeds, any other will break your teeth. They make a delicious snack or can be sprinkled on risotto or salad. For recipes where you need the flesh to remain dry, microwave it. This is particularly good for making pumpkin gnocchi or pumpkin griddle cakes. Why not roast pumpkin flesh with potatoes to ring the seasonal changes?

Pumpkin, butternut and squash is a good little book from Ryland Peters and Small and would make an excellent present.

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Publication Details:
63 pages. Photography by Debi Treloar. £8.99
ISBN 1841720992. Published by Ryland Peters & Small
2000

Would you like to buy this book? Click here.

Others books in the series
Easy Sushi by Emi Kazuko, click here.
Casseroles by Tessa Bramley,click here.