Cooking Savory Dishes With Pumpkin

While the fall season seems to be inundated with pumpkin coffees and baked goods, they’re far from the only options when it comes to cooking with the popular squash. For people enrolled in culinary arts programs, the options are seemingly endless. Whether you prefer a hearty dish for the cold weather like soup, or want to roast the squash like you would a potato, you’d be surprised by how much you can do with a pumpkin:

You can bake right inside of your pumpkin.

Roast the pumpkin itself 
If you enjoy your soup served in a bread bowl, you’ll be a fan of this creamy roasted pumpkin from BBC Good Food. This recipe only consists of the pumpkin, cream, milk, garlic, thyme and Parmesan, and it just takes an hour and a half to bake. Simply heat the ingredients on the stove while the pumpkin bakes in the oven. Then, pour the cream mixture into the pumpkin and sprinkle the top with cheese. You can eat this right out of the pumpkin and scoop the squash out with a spoon, or scoop everything out and serve alongside bread or chips as a dip.

Serve with pasta
Creamy, savory pasta dishes are the epitome of comfort food. Why not incorporate the seasonal star into the mix? This Alfredo recipe from Closet Cooking uses a creamy pumpkin cheese sauce, made up of garlic, cream, pumpkin, goat cheese, Parmesan and seasonings. While the sauce is incredibly savory, there is a hint of sweetness too, from the goat cheese and pumpkin pie spice. This is a delectable alternative to the usual bland Alfredo sauce you make when you need a little pick me up. Be sure to make enough for leftovers!

Pumpkin home fries
Roasted potatoes have always been a popular side dish. They’re easily customizable to perfectly pair with the entree at hand. This roasted pumpkin salad from Not Quite Nigella features both sweet and savory flavors by roasting the squash with olive oil and sesame seeds and serving with honey, balsamic vinegar, feta and chili flakes. When you scoop the pumpkin before, save the seeds to either eat separately or roast and sprinkle on top. This side is the perfect dish to pair with anything as hearty as a roast or as light as fish.