How to use your leftover Halloween pumpkin

Many people carve pumpkins as decorations for Halloween. Some of us even roast the seeds that we excavate from the interiors, but how many actually use the flesh of the pumpkin once the holiday has passed? Yes, you can eat jack o’lantern pumpkin says the Guardian, which gives us several ideas for ways to make use of the parts of the decorations that are normally thrown away. 

First, a caveat: the article seems to recommends using the trimmings that you have after carving, not the carved pumpkin itself, although it’s a bit difficult to determine. It could be a bit risky to use a carved pumpkin after it’s been sitting out for more than a few hours. Even so, there are probably plenty of trimmings, especially if you have carved several pumpkins for display. 

The most obvious use is one mentioned above, roasting the seeds. You can either toss the cleaned seeds with oil and spices and roast in the oven, or you can pan fry them in oil. If doing the latter, make sure they are good and dry before tossing them into hot oil to prevent splattering. 

Since carving pumpkins are not the most flavorful, you may want to roast the flesh to get it caramelized before you use it in any recipes. In addition to the cut away parts, you can usually trim a good deal of flesh off the top and around the sides and base. The walls of the pumpkin I carved last evening were nearly 2 inches thick! 

Soups are a great way to utilize unevenly sized parts – once the pieces cook down you can whiz the soup in a blender or food processor to make a smooth puree and no one will be the wiser that their tasty soup created the grin in a jack o’lantern.