How Matt Preston uses pumpkin for breakfast, lunch or dinner

This humble vegetable is usually more at home in a soup, not in a toasted sandwich — but mix it with blue cheese and bacon, and you have a winner.

Were delicious. to ever shoot a glamour wall calendar, my nomination for Mr July would be a buff Queensland Blue pumpkin.

I can just picture it … Photographed in its natural state, Mr July would be captured “surprised in the field”, breathtakingly naked. The shot is all about the smooth skin and how the rippled contours of its sides catch the sun.

This member of the winter squash family claims the title for July because while there are so many winter fruit and vegetables coming into season now, none attracts nearly as many hungry eyes – aka searches on delicious.com.au – as pumpkin.

More often than not, its sweet flesh is showcased in a creamy pumpkin soup – it’s the single most searched-for recipe in Australia at this time of year.

However, for me, pumpkin (or any of the winter squashes) is about so much more than that sweet bowl of golden warmth.

Matt Preston loves cooking with pumpkin.

Pumpkin can be used in many dishes.

While “have pumpkin, must make soup” might be the kneejerk reaction to this seasonal favourite, it’s good for so much more.

A BREAKFAST BLOW-IN

There are no rules that say pumpkin needs to be part of a main meal, so why can’t it be for breakfast, as well?

Try folding mashed pumpkin into your pancake mix to bulk it up, adding body and sweetness to make them even more perfect with maple syrup.

Or serve wedges of roast pumpkin with hummus and poached eggs dusted in dukkah for a weekend brunch.

A TOP-NOTCH TOASTIE

If you have any leftover roast pumpkin wedges, cut them into chunks to use in the gorgonzola, pumpkin, maple-cured bacon and maple syrup toastie by chef (and new judge on The Great Australian Bake Off) Darren Purchese.

The salty creaminess of this blue cheese is perfect with the sweet pumpkin and bacon.

Pumpkin in a toasted sandwich.

A MEAT-FREE MASTERPIECE

The high level of natural sugars in pumpkin mean that when you roast wedges or steaks of it, you have a high chance of getting some deliciously chewy caramelised edges.

For me, these edges elevate pumpkin to hero status as a meat-free meal for even the most ardent carnivore.

Those wedges can then be served loaded with anything from a satay sauce or a chilli caramel to a lemon juice and tahini dressing paired with stock-cooked barley that’s jewelled with pomegranate gems, roasted red onion, crumbled feta and torn dates.

Roast pumpkin is sweet and tasty.

STUFFED LIKE A ROAST

Sure, pumpkin usually finds itself in the oven as the back-up singer for a big name roast such as chicken or a shoulder of pork but, structurally, it offers some exciting alternative serving suggestions.

I’m totally enamoured with chef Miguel Maestre’s idea of coring a butternut pumpkin and filling the cavity with rice, nuts and Persian feta before roasting it whole.

When it comes out of the oven, he carves it into slices like a porchetta pork roast. I think he even calls it a “pumpketta” – with a touch of linguistic elegance.

Of course, you could just split the butternut lengthwise, scrape out the strings and seeds, and roast it filled with lamb mince fried in lots of garlic, onion and spices such as cumin and coriander, or a stickier fry of pork mince tossed with sweet soy and cooked with plenty of ginger and garlic.

When golden and toasty, serve with coriander pesto or with loads of coriander and holy basil.

Spiced pumpkin and honey bread.

A SWEET SUBSTITUTE

Try chef Matt Moran’s spiced pumpkin and honey loaf. Or slice your pumpkin into thin sheets to add to your lasagne, au gratin or moussaka in a play on the traditional dish like in chef Warren Mendes’ beef and pumpkin moussaka.

The recipe for that and the pumpkin loaf are among the 40 most popular dishes featured in our pumpkin gallery, available for free online at delicious.com.au.

SPICED FOR A SAUCE OR A SIP

Whether it’s through using chunks of pumpkin in a Thai red curry sauce or from the US obsession with pumpkin spice lattes, we know that pumpkins love spice.

Try filling a blind-baked pastry case with a pumpkin-enriched custard to bake a silky pumpkin pie. And don’t be shy with your cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves in this one.

PAIRED WITH PASTA

Never dismiss any pumpkin leftovers – they’ll be perfect for tomorrow night’s pasta.

Stuff them into cannelloni tubes, mix them with flour to be rolled out into pumpkin pici (a kind of fat spaghetti) or add to fettuccine tossed with butter, pine nuts, crispy sage leaves and raisins.

You can even mix the pumpkin with stock or cream and some grated cheese to make an excellent sauce for penne.

Again, nutmeg and sage are your friends here, along with a couple of handfuls of spinach.

For more food, travel and lifestyle news, go to delicious.com.au

Originally published as How Matt Preston uses pumpkin for breakfast, lunch or dinner