vegan Halloween Orange Lentil Pasta with Red Devil Pumpkin Sauce

This vegan Halloween Orange Lentil Pasta with Red Devil Pumpkin Sauce was made a few days ago, when surprisingly I had some energy in me when I got home from work to cook.

I had baked the fresh pumpkin in the oven the evening before, so all I had to do was scoop out the slushy orangy pulp for the Red Devil Pumpkin Sauce; and cook a packet of Profusion Red lentil Fussili pasta that's been in my kitchen cupboards for a few months.  Every time I laid eyes on it, I knew it was destined for a Halloween Pasta Bake.

I served the Orange Lentil Pasta smothered in Red Devil Pumpkin Sauce and served it with homemade vegan Chorizo sausages which are laid out here coming out of the ceramic pumpkins mouth like puke, but that is optional.  

Even though presented it looks quite impressive for a Halloween dinner table, I have to admit, I was not overly keen on it.  Perhaps it was the powdery nature of the pasta that also lost its vibrant orange colour upon cooking;  or perhaps the pumpkin sauce itself which lacked body - I probably needed a better pumpkin that had more depth and flavour.  I may have sadly picked one up grown mostly for carving than for eating...oh well. 

Nonetheless, I think children will like this nonetheless, even moreso if you throw a handful of grated cheese over it, but that is up to you.   Oh and if your kids are not  up for chilli flakes and or chilli sauce, you can make this child friendly simply by omitting the chilli flakes all together from the Red Devil Pumpkin Sauce. 

The red lentil fusilli pasta from Pro fusion is gluten free, but the vegan chorizo sausages are not as they are made with vital wheat gluten.   

Other Halloween Recipes to inspire you. 
Those that are vegan are marked with a v, otherwise everything is suitable for vegetarians.  
Bloody Massacred Beetroot Men Pies  v
Black Sesame Seed Butter v
Creepy Black Olive spiders Gratin v
Pumpkins are not Just for Halloween Chilli v
Beetroot Gratin
Beetroot Cauliflower 'Brain' Salad with Feta Cheese
Halloween Inspiration
Halloween Recipes, Cakes and Snacks from Green Gourmet Giraffe
Franken Sushi by Green Gourmet Giraffe v
Red GHOULash v
Blood Beetroot and Raspberry Jelly v 
Vampire Beetroot Scotch Eggs 
Zombie Pies v
20 Spooky & Fun Vegan Halloween Recipes compiled by V Nutrition

Bookmarked Vegetable Cakes, Desserts and Sweet Recipes

There used to be nights when I would lie awake at night thinking about what to create with my home-grown organic vegetables, For those of you who have been following me since the inception of this blog, will know that I was putting vegetables into everything - Rhubarb and beetroot in curries, courgette and parsnip in cookies, avocado and pumpkin in mousse, spinach and kale in smoothies, beetroot in cakes,waffles and pastry crust, carrot in muesli, flapjacks and jams and jellies, butternut squash in ice-cream, and much more, now I lie awake with real life distractions. I also seem to have lost my mojo, before the inspiration would just come naturally ...life was much kinder then. I know it will return in time.

I was looking over some of my bookmarked recipes from years back.  It occured to me that raw food and vegan blogs have been a fantastic source of inspiration for many mainstream foodies whether or not we like to admit it.  Many raw and vegan food bloggers cook outside of the boundaries incorporating ingredients that mimic meat and dairy products flavours, textures and tastes.  Raw and Vegan cooks have introduced mainstream cooks and chefs to new techniques and ways of cooking with ingredients that they would never had considered.  Avocado Chocolate Mousse for a start - need I say more, and Kale and Spinach in Smoothies that have now evolved now to ice-creams and yogurts. Many of these recipes have been around for years, but are only just being discovered here in the U.K. 

Here are a handful of bookmarked recipes made with vegetables from around blogospere that I hope to make in time.  I have provided links to the original source.  I do hope the bloggers I've linked to don't mind me sharing the images with you. 

Beetroot Ice-cream by White on Rice Couple.

Here are Lagusta's amazing vegan Beetroot Truffles. She has also made other flavours, such as Chipotle, Wasabi, Curry and Miso! 

Beetroot and Coconut Terrine featured on Va Va Voom.  I know this one is savoury, but I am planning on sweetening it up a little when I make it at home. 

Red Chocolate Hot Chocolate by Yuppie Chef!  I was thinking of making this one with beetroot and making Red Beetroot Hot Chocolate!

I also have Beetroot Meringues bookmarked from Canal Cook, as well as vegan ones by Eddie Shepherd; and also Carrot Meringues bookmarked from Love the Garden Competition in 2011.

Here are some sweet recipes made with cauliflower.  For a start Chocolate Cauliflower Shake from The Green Forks which can easily be frozen and turned into a lollipop; and even a Cauliflower Rice Pudding from Maria Mind Body Health. 

Hulk Smoothie aka Green Smoothie from Carissa at Attached At the Nip.  Carissa introduced me to Green Smoothies in 2009.  She has so many variations with mangoes, apples, all with appealing names such as Green Goddess, and Simply Green Juice. 

This amazing vegan Kale Cake with Sweet Potato Filling from Lancaster Fresh Farm CSA website shared in 2011 by a CSA shareholder, Laura Forer.  I so want to make this with my homegrown kale.

Sweet Pea Cupcakes with Soured Cream Frosting from Vanilla Garlic as above (2009) and also Garden Peas and Ricotta Cupcakes  (no image) bookmarked from Cupcake Project (2011).

Another one from the Cupcake Project, this time its Cucumber Cupcakes.  So gorgeous. 

The Baker of Brighton also has Cucumber Cupcakes this time topped with Elderflower Cream.  But if you want to make one big cake, then check out this Cucumber Cake recipe bookmarked from Honest Cooking.  It shows that cucumbers can be substituted for courgettes. 

There is a sweet Turkish cake called Ispanakli Kek made with Spinach.  I had it when I was in Turkey but have never got round to making it at home.  I've had this Sweet Spinach Cake bookmarked by Binnurs Turkish Cookbook.  A similar Spinach Cake and Spinach Cupcake recipe appears in Mom Whats for Dinner !  I was also intrigued by Binnurs Mushroom Cookies.  

Spinach Ice-cream from Chocolate Covered Katie.  I was also recently reminded of this Mint Chocolate Frozen Yogurt with Chocolate Chips also made with spinach by Circardian Wellnesss via Jessica Seinfields book Double Delicious, you can find the original recipe here.

Peruvian Sweet Corn Cake from Peru Delights.  Follow this link for  22 Peruvian Recipes that vegans and vegetarians should try. 

Mexican Sweet Corn Cakes from Marcie at Flavour The Moments.

 Home-made Sweet Potato Latte by Grace Su featured on MichellePhan.com.  Sweet Potato Latte is a Korean cafe speciality that will soon be made in my kitchen come Autumn.  The recipe can be easily adapted, and has also been made with Japanese Purple Sweet Potato. 

Spiced Sweet Potato Doughnuts by Leanne Bakes.

Sweet Potato Cheesecake Squares from Seasonal Veg Head via Everyday Food.

Or maybe something a little more cooling with these Pumpkin Lollies or Popsicles depending on where you are in the world, bookmarked from a Healthy Jalapeno. 

And these don't even include those from my well thumbed raw food, vegetarian and vegan cookbooks such as this one from which I have already baked Celery Cookies.

Pumpkin and Sultana Muffins

Here are some pumpkin and sultana muffins I made yesterday for Halloween.   

I barely had any 'trick and treaters' yesterday evening, as the pouring rain kept many of them away.

Although not intentional, I do like how the grated pumpkin looks like cobweb on the top. I just wish I had stuck a sliced sultana or raisin on the top too, so to mimic a trapped fly on the web... ah maybe next year.

Pumpkin and Sultana Muffins
Makes 10
Ingredients
250g plain flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon allspice
70g soft brown  sugar
100g sultanas
About 150g freshly grated pumpkin
1medium egg
140ml milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
60g butter, melted
Method
Line a muffin tray with muffin cases. 
Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, spices in a medium sized bowl.  Then stir in the brown sugar and sultanas.  In another bowl, combine the egg, milk and vanilla and then stir in the grated pumpkin.  Slowly pour this mixture, along with the melted butter into the dry ingredients.  Stir well until the mixture is well combined, but be careful not to over mix.
Spoon the batter into the muffin cases. 
Bake at gas mark 6 for 25 – 30 minutes or until lightly browned.  Allow to cool for 30 minutes before serving.

Chilli Spiked Roasted Pumpkin Soup

The sun came out today - hip hip hooray, and we went for a drive to Troon in the West of Scotland and walked along the murky seaweed laden beach.  But that didn't bother us at all, it was just so nice to have stepped out of the flat and get some fresh salty air in our lungs.

When we got back home, I made a simple Roast Pumpkin Soup spiked with a little red chilli for warmth and heat. 

This is one of the most ridiculously easiest of soup recipes I have in my reportoire. I usually make it with butternut squash, but I picked up a small culinary pumpkin a few days ago and tried it with that. If you do decide to make this, make sure you have good ingredients, you don't want to make this soup with a tasteless pumpkin because all you will end up with is a insipid watery soup.

I am sharing a bowl of this soup with Deb of Kahakai Kitchen for this week’s Souper (Soup, Salad and Sammies) Sundays which celebrates it 3 years Blogiversary this week; as well as Savoury Sunday hosted by The Sweet Details;  The Penny Worthy Project hosted by Hey What's for Dinner Mom and finally as requested by Deelicious Sweets to Pumpkin Blog Hop.

Simply peel and chop a medium pumpkin into small cubes.  Toss it with a little olive oil and bake in the oven at Gas mark 5.  Roast for about 45 minutes or until soft and tender.  Then tip it all into a food processor; or food blender, along with some vegetable stock, about 1 pint to 1½ pint and add some salt and red chilli flakes to taste.  Blend to a puree.  Return to the pot and reheat.  

Thai Pumpkin and chickpea curry

After our snowy, slippy walk through Kelvingrove Park and Museum, we came back home just wanting to have a lazy day. On days I don't want to be in the kitchen too long, I often make a quick Thai Green curry and Thai Red curry with ready made curry paste. These two meals has been a stand-by favourite in our home, for ease and for flavour.

A little while ago though, I picked up a jar of Thai Yellow curry paste. I've never had a Thai Yellow curry, so was intrigued to try it. In the fridge I also had a wedge of pumpkin, a packet of salad greens that included baby spinach, (watercress and rocket), plus I always have tinned chickpeas in my kitchen cupboards . So an impromptu meal of Thai Yellow Pumpkin and chickpea curry was served in about 30 minutes. Its not as spicy as the Thai green or Thai red, but still - a nice change.
Thai Yellow Pumpkin and Chickpea curry
Serves 2 -3
Ingredients
3 tbsp vegetable oil
400g pumpkin, peeled and sliced into wedges or roughly even sized chunks
400ml unsweetened coconut milk
100ml vegetable stock made with bouillon powder
3 - 4 tablespoons of ready made Thai Yellow Curry Paste (make sure it is suitable for vegetarians and vegans).
1 teaspoon Tamari
4 dried kaffir lime leave
Salt to taste
1 x 400g tinned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
100 g baby spinach
Coriander to taste
Method
Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the pumpkin wedges or chunks. Cook them in the hot oil for 10 minutes, until they begin to soften slightly. Check by inserting a fork.
Then add the coconut milk, the stock and the yellow curry paste, the tamari, Kaffir lime leaves and salt to taste.
Simmer for a few minutes, then add in the chickpeas and the greens. Stir gently until the greens wilt. Check seasoning, and scatter over coriander if using.
Serve with lovely plain Basmati rice or in keeping with the Thai theme – Thai Jasmine rice.

Rum Pumpkin Jam

Or should I call it Rum Pumpkin Puree?!

The field pumpkin I used for the Pumpkin, black bean and leek was rather generous in size. I had enough for at least four different meals. But not wanting to bake it or make a pumpkin soup. I decided on making some more preserves, jams and jellies for my store-cupboard. I’ve seen a number of recipes in cookbooks and on fellow bloggers blogs for pumpkin jam and pumpkin marmalade. I settled on one called French Pumpkin Jam purely for its simplicity, making a few minor changes to the original. In my head I thought this pumpkin jam would be similar to the Mulled Carrot Jam. It was not. I was not completely happy with what I had produced. It tastes okay a bit like chunky chestnut puree, but the smell is not particularly alluring. I don’t know if it is the niff of the rum or that I upped the quantity of cinnamon.

Later, when I revisited the recipe, I learned what I had done something wrong. I had thrown all the ingredients into the pan. I was supposed to add the rum in the last two minutes of cooking. Oh well, we all make mistakes in the kitchen. It will not go to waste though, I have some ideas of how to consume it in the next few months or so, and it actually tastes fine, it’s just the alcoholic smell.

If you want to make this, I'd say have a go. You only need 500g pumpkin, and you can happily omit the alcohol. For a vegan version, I did come across a recipe where you could substitute the honey with dried apricots and raisins.

Rum Pumpkin Jam (or Puree)
Makes 2 x 245g jars
Ingredients
500 g pumpkin, peeled and grated
1/2 - 1 teaspoon cinnamon
200 g granulated sugar
Zest from 1 lemon
100 g honey
2 teaspoons rum
Method

Put all into a preserving pan. Remove the zest from the lemon. In bowl, add cinnamon, granulated sugar, lemon zest, honey. Mix. Cook for about an hour. Stir regularly. Test if the jam has reached it setting point. If the jam gels at once, it is ready, otherwise continue until it is jammy. As soon as the jam is ready, spoon in the rum. Stir and cook over low heat for 2 minutes. Pour the hot jam into sterilized jars. Seal and store.

A pumpkin is not just for Halloween

Everyone has their favourite version of a Vegetarian chilli, even omnivores are happy to miss out the minced meat as this dish is a hearty affair. Minus the cheese and soured cream accompaniments, vegetarian chillies are often vegan. They are always packed with substance: beans, pulses and a colourful array of vegetables. If I am honest I have liked all the vegetarian chilli recipes I've eaten. I have found them always warming, filling and comforting. But I have to admit I do have one that I like above all the others, one that I would declare 'my favourite of favourites'. It is a Chilli recipe by one of my favourite vegetarian chefs, Denis Cotter. His vegetarian chilli is usually made with roasted aubergine which I do like very much, but with aubergines being out of season, I thought I would substitute this ingredient with a very autumnal one – the Goldy-orange Pumpkin.

I was actually rather surprised to still be able to find a pumpkin post-Halloween. Why? Well as soon as Halloween passes, pumpkins are immediately removed from the aisles of supermarkets and the grocers shelves.
I have to forewarn you in advance this chilli is spicy and hot. It is one designed for grown ups. Denis Cotter makes his version with 8 dried birds eye chilli, please don’t be alarmed and think the chilli ratio will knock your cotton socks off. I have followed Denis Cotters recipe word for word and actually found 8 not spicy enough, so upped it to 14 (honest). I think dried chillies must lose that heat intensity on drying or else I have a high tolerance of chilli and spicy food. This time though, not having any dried birds eye chillies in stock, I substituted these with some fresh red chillies. I used 5 or was it 6? It was spicy, it was heat Hot – but not too hot that you could not taste the other flavours.

If you decide to make this and I encourage you to do so, You can err on the side of caution and use 4 – no less though, this is supposed to be a Chilli dish after all.
As mentioned, although hot and spicy, all the flavours in the pot came through good and strong. The black beans were what Jack Crow (from the blockbuster Hollywood movie Pirates of the Caribbean) would declare black pearls and the Borlotti beans soft, the leek was both silky and caramel like. The pumpkin bites were roasted to perfection, allowing the natural sweetness and graininess to come through. Instead of the usual accompaniment of rice, I served these with some chickpea chips aka fries. Fabulous they were too.

I am submitting this to Lisa of Lisa’s Kitchen who is hosting Novembers edition of My Legume Love Affair, the event founded by Susan of the Well Seasoned Cook to encourage bloggers to to share legume recipes.

Pumpkin, black bean and leek chilli

Serves 4

Ingredients

Olive oil

1 large onion, finely sliced

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon coriander seeds, freshly ground

1 tablespoon cumin, freshly ground

4 to 6 fresh red chillies, sliced

1 x 400g tinned tomatoes

1 tablespoon tomato puree

salt to taste

400g pumpkin, peeled and chopped into even sized cubes

1 large leek, washed well of grit and cut into slices

1x 400g tinned black beans (or mixed beans), drained and rinsed

1x400g tinned Borlotti beans, drained and rinsed

Method

Heat a little olive oil in large pan and cook the onions and garlic until soft. Add the spices, chilli and cook for a couple of minutes before adding the tomatoes and the tomato puree. Bring the sauce to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Season with salt and check the spice levels - the sauce should be very heavily spiced at this point, as the vegetables and beans will dilute the flavours.

While the sauce is cooking, toss the pumpkin cubes into olive oil and roast them in a hot oven until softened. Turn and toss the pumpkin cubes once or twice as they cook.

In another wide pan, heat two tablespoon live oil and cook the leeks in it until just tender, stirring often.

Add the black beans, Borlotti beans, pumpkin cubes and leeks to the sauce and simmer for about 10 minutes. Check the seasoning and spices before serving.

Serve on rice, chickpea chips or in tortilla wraps along with soured cream and cheese; or vegan alternative. Once again, this recipe is adapted slightly from Denis Cotter Paradiso Seasons. I hope he will not mind. If you do not have this cookbook on your shelf, I strongly encourage you to put it on your wish list. Not only for the creative and flavour packed recipes, but for the style of writing which I very much like.

A vegan Ponkie – Ghanaian Pumpkin

No, this is not a derogatory term to describe my vegan friends, this is my interpretation of a Ghanaian dish known as Ponkie.

So what is Ponkie? Ponkie is the Ghanaian word for pumpkin. The dish is traditionally made with beef. I substituted the beef with textured vegetable (TVP) protein also known as soya mince.

I know the name will set of little ones in fits of giggles and maybe some grown ups too. I chose to make it for two reasons, pumpkins are everywhere at the moment. I’d like to say pumpkins are everywhere because it the season, but the other than the butternut squash, once Halloween is over, you’ll be lucky to find a pumpkin here. Therefore, I recommend you make the most of it now, even if it is for soup. The other reason this recipe appealed were the ingredients, some of which reminded me of a kind of vegetarian chilli bean dish but without the kidney beans.
In my previous job, I had a good Ghanaian friend HA. He had these cat like whisker scars on his face. When I first met him I was fascinated by them and thought I’ll ask him the significance later, but as time passed. I no longer saw the scars on his face, it was just another feature, so never got round to knowing the reason. I’m guessing it had spiritual meaning as well as being a tribal mark to identify the family. I’d ask him, but he moved away and we lost contact. Anyway, I digress I think he would be disappointed at me for subbing the beef with TVP (textured vegetable protein) aka soya granules. HA is like my brothers, he loves eating his meat. Whenever we lunched together, he would often add ‘I could never be vegetarian. I so love my meat’. I wonder though if I could tempt him with this version of Ponkie. I wonder what he would say?!

This is a dry dish, similar to the okra salan. Traditionally ponkie is served with boiled yam and flat bread. It also goes well with other grains such as rice, couscous and even tortilla wraps, just please don’t tell HA. I think he will roll his eyes even more.
Ponkie: Ghanaian pumpkin
Serves 4 - 6
Ingredients
4 tablespoon sunflower oil
1 medium onion, finely sliced
1 – 2 fresh red chilli, minced or 1 - 2 Teaspoon Chilli powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
Salt to taste
250g TVP or soya mince dehydrated
1 green pepper, chopped
400g tin of tomatoes, chopped
400g Pumpkin or Butternut Squash, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 Aubergine, diced
Method
Heat oil in pan and saute the onion until soft and translucent, then add in the spices and chilli, cook for a couple of minutes for the spices to combine. Add in the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes or so before adding in the soya mince, pepper and pumpkin pieces. Cook for 10 minutes before adding in the aubergine. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Taste and adjust seasoning to taste. This particular recipe is adapted from Oxfam Fairworld Cookbook which acknowledges the original coming from Ola Olaore s book Traditional African Cookery.

Pumpkin Polenta Pizza

A little bit of sunshine on my plate.

Of course this is not strictly a pizza, as its base is made up of polenta and it is not smothered in a tomato sauce, but I did not know what else to call it.

A good thing about this pizza is you can make it pretty much all in advance. In this case, just don’t melt the cheese until your ready to eat.

I created this for Charley who has just harvested a colourful array of pumpkin and squashes. I hope she likes. D did not mind it, he thought it could have benefited from a little bit of red sauce (not from a bottle).

The green in the polenta comes from the coriander pesto. I only added it because I had some in the fridge from this meal. If you don’t want to include it whilst the polenta is cooking, you can also smear this on top of the polenta when it resting; or you can omit it all together if you wish. If you don’t like coriander, use a different herb, sage would work well too. Same with the cheese, if you don’t like goats cheese, substitute either with fontina, grated mozzarella, or a vegan alternative.

Upon baking the polenta base acquires a soft-crisp texture, whereas the herbs and pumpkin slices delicately flavour. The colours perked me up considering it was rather grey outside. This pumpkin polenta pizza is suitable for those on a gluten free diet.

It is rather pretty at this stage like pantomime fiery flames against the herb flecked polenta. Its good when cooked too.

Pumpkin Polenta Pizza
Serves 2 or 4 with accompaniments such as a light peppery salad
Ingredients
For the polenta base
125g quick cook polenta
Salt and pepper to taste
Water
Optional: 2 tablespoon of coriander pesto. Recipe here.
Method for the polenta base
Make the polenta first according to your packet instructions. Mine read to 125g polenta add ½ litre water. As soon as it starts to thicken, add in the pesto stir quickly to combine then pour into a round non-stick or greased flan tin measuring about 91/2 inch. Adjust polenta if your flan tin is bigger.
With the back of a spoon spread the mix evenly and leave to set. When firm, tip out carefully onto a lightly oiled pizza tray. Optional: If you have not stirred the coriander pesto into the polenta, you can smear the polenta top with coriander pesto.
Ingredients for the topping
1 small squash or a good wedge (quarter) of a medium pumpkin
Olive oil

4 round slices from a goats cheese log
Optional: chilli flakes
Method
Now either use your mandolin; or a knife and carefully slice the pumpkin thinly as possible.
Layer the polenta evenly with the pumpkin slices, coating each layer with a little olive oil. Do between two to three layers. Season with salt and pepper and optional: chilli flakes. Bake in oven for 10 – 25 minutes until the pumpkin slices can be pierced with a fork. Then top with cheese and bake for a few minutes until the cheese has melted. Then slice and serve immediately.

Red Chilli Spiced Pumpkin Chutney

I have been wanting to make a pumpkin chutney since I tasted some on an oat biscuit last year at some food event. Most of the pumpkin chutney recipes however are a bit plain for me. I wanted one that had a little bit of warmth. Whilst flicking through my cookbooks for inspiration, I came across one from the Women’s Institute. It is such a slender and skinny booklet that you’d miss it amongst the other chubbier books. I found a pumpkin chutney recipe in there with flavours that appealed. So that is what, I made with a few little tweaks of my own of course.

I am so sorry that I did not get a photograph of the ingredients raw in the pot, as the colours were just beautiful. The gold from the pumpkin nuggets, the alluring bright red from the chilli, ruby jewelled red from the cranberries, tart apple pieces offset jet studs of raisins and sultanas. Once cooked down the colours in the jar just echoed of Autumnal leaves drifting in the breeze.

Whilst cooking, I tasted the chutney for flavour as I went along. But I want to get D’s opinion about the spices too, especially the kick of the chilli. I had decision to make, whether to keep the red chilli pods whole or mince them in. I called him into the kitchen. As he walked in, I saw the expression on his face change as he was hit by the acidic smell of the bubbling vinegar. On tasting a teaspoon, he said the flavours were 'spot on' and left me again.
An hour later, after having just filled the jars and screwing the on the lids, D comes back into the kitchen, peering into the empty pot ‘Are there no leftovers? I fancy eating some chutney and cheese’. This pumpkin chutney has to mature for two months before consuming. I pointed him in the direction of the fridge and reminded him that we still have some tomato and celery chutney from last year, and if he did not want that, there was also some unopened spiced plum chutney in the cupboard.

Alternative: if you don’t want the chilli heat, you can omit both the chillies and the mustard seeds. The chutney will still be excellent.
Red Chilli Pumpkin chutney
Makes 8 x 245ml jars

Ingredients
680g prepared pumpkin, peeled, de-seeded and cut into small chunks.
450g cooking apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
2 large onions, chopped
100g dried cranberry
75g raisins and sultanas
2 teaspoons salt
60g fresh root ginger, shredded finely
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons ground allspice
2 tablespoons black, brown or yellow mustard seeds
4 – 5 fresh fat red chillies, pierced
6 garlic cloves, crushed
1 pint malt vinegar
450g granulated sugar
Method
Put all ingredients, except the sugar in a large pan and mix well. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the contents are very soft. Optional: either leave whole or take out the whole chillies and mince. Then return to pan with the sugar until dissolved. Continue to simmer, uncovered for about 1 – 1 ½ hours or until the chutney is very thick and there is no liquid left on the surface. Spoon into sterilized jars and seal. Store for 2 months before use. Adapted from the Best kept secrets from the Women’s Institute Jams, Pickles and Chutney's by Midge Thomas.