It won’t come as a surprise to anyone who knows me that pumpkins are just another one of the things that I adore about this time of year. Not only is seeing them in the supermarket one of the quickest ways to start feeling autumnal and cosy but they’re also delicious. Most people, in the past myself included, see pumpkins as being a decoration first, food second. We carve them out each October but then the majoirty of us (58% to be precise according to The Guardian) just bin them as soon as the holiday is over. Not only is it a massive waste of food (something we all need to be a bit more conscious of) but it’s also a waste of nutrients. Pumpkins are amazing for you in terms of health benefits, they’re full of potassium, beta-carotene and vitamins E, C and B. To just bin them seems too much of a waste so to help find a bit more balance between enjoying this time of year and having fun, whilst cutting down on our waste I’ve pulled together some of the ways that I’m making the most of my leftover pumpkins this year.

Pumpkin porridge: A super quick and easy way to get an extra helping on your 5-a-day in is to throw a heaped spoon of pumpkin puree into your porridge in the morning. Simply cut up your pumpkin with the skin on, apply a little olive oil to the flesh and cook for 20-25 minutes at about 200 degrees. Once it’s soft you can scoop it out, blend it and add in some lovely autumnal spices like cinnamon and nutmeg to the mix. Add a heaped tablespoon or two to your oats with a little bit of milk and you’re ready for one of the most autumnal breakfasts ever. I like to top it with a bit of almond butter and maple syrup too.

Pumpkin cake: There’s no better smell than a freshly baked cake, other than a freshly baked pumpkin cake. I made this recipe last weekend and put about 3/4 of the mixture into a loaf tin instead of cupcake cases. It was amazing to have a warming and cosy cake sitting on the side, it really didn’t last long though! To make the pumpkin puree just roast the pumpkin in the same way as above. It make the cake incredible soft and moist, I can’t wait to make it again. Side note - I used a pumpkin weighing about 0.8kg and it gave me around 330g of pumpkin puree in the end. I also swapped the butter and milk for vegan alternatives and although the mixture split a bit before baking the end result worked really well.

Pumpkin soup: A classic for this time of year, a soup is a quick and easy way to use up your pumpkin along with any other extra ingredients you may have lying around. Best bit? It will freeze easily so you have fresh soup on hand whenever you need to warm yourself up as the weather gets colder.

Treat it like any other squash: If you’re already a fan of squash then you’ll probably know that whether you use a butternut squash or a pumpkin rarely matters very much. Pick out your favourite squash recipe and just substitute your butternut for a pumpkin. A simple swap but one that’s going to cut your food waste down massively!

Puree and freeze: If you can’t get through an entire pumpkin in a few days (and let’s be honest, some of them are huge) then if you roast it and blend it then you can freeze it in convenient portion sizes, whether that’s in a silicone muffin tray or just freezer bags. I like to add generous amounts of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger to mine so that it’s perfect for anything desert based.

Keep them as decorations: If you haven’t actually cut your pumpkin open then often they’ll last until long after the end of October and be perfectly fine to eat. One year the pumpkins I got when I went picking were still fine in January. Seriously. Don’t just get rid of them because halloween is over - keep them out as decorations until you’re next fancying some squash and then throw them into one of the recipes above.

If you’re over Halloween and you’re looking for a way to reduce your pumpkin waste then hopefully these tips have been helpful. It’s great to have fun and keep those traditions alive but I do think it’s also important that we aren’t just carelessly wasting a tonne (or 7 million…) of food as soon as the holiday is over. Plus, when they taste so good and they’re in season it’s a shame not to enjoy them to the fullest!