Spicy Pumpkin Lunch Box Recipes

SPICY PUMPKIN CHILI

Steps:

• Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; cook and stir the beef in the skillet until crumbly and no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in the red pepper flakes, garlic, and onion; continue cooking until the beef has browned and the onion has softened and turned translucent. Add the green and red bell pepper and cook 5 minutes more.
• While the beef is cooking, combine the kidney beans, black beans, Great Northern beans, tomato sauce, tomato sauce with garlic and onions, petite diced tomatoes, fire roasted diced tomatoes, and pumpkin puree in a large slow cooker. Season with pumpkin pie spice, chili powder, cumin, and salt. Stir in the ground beef mixture.
• Cook on Low until the chili is hot, 1 to 2 hours.

SPICY PUMPKIN SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Combine flour, 7 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in 4 tablespoons butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Beat egg using a whisk in a bowl. Add pumpkin, sour cream, and ginger; beat until well blended. Stir pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture until a soft dough has formed.
• Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead gently 10 times. Roll or gently pat into a 9x6-inch rectangle. Cut dough into 6 squares. Cut each square in 1/2 diagonally, making 12 triangles.
• Place the dough triangles 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Melt remaining tablespoon of butter and brush over scones. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean, 10 to 12 minutes.

SPICY PUMPKIN PIE II

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C.)
• In a large bowl, combine pumpkin puree, milk, cream, brown sugar and white sugar. Mix in the cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. Beat in the flour and eggs. Pour filling into pie shell.
• Bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake for 50 minutes, or until filling has set.

SPICY ROAST PUMPKIN

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 200 C or 400°F.
• Quarter and then carefully peel and seed the pumpkin.
• Cut into chunky 2" cubes.
• Place pumpkin into a large & sturdy roasting tray.
• Add the olive oil, salt, pepper & cumin - mix well, making sure that all the pumpkin pieces are coated in olive oil.
• Bake in the oven for about 30 to 45 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft & also tinged brown at the edges.
• Serve with a main meal as the vegetable dish OR freeze for future savoury pumpkin recipes. I also make soup from this - as well as pasta dishes too - recipes to be posted for those!

SPICY PUMPKIN LUNCH BOX

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400.
• Heat the olive oil with the onions, chili powder and garlic in a large cast iron skillet, when they get fragrant, add the sausage discs. Toss together. After a few minutes, add the rice and stir fry for a three minutes. Turn off the heat and mix in the flax seeds and salt. Put aside.
• Lobotomize the pumpkins: cut the tops off (if you cut in a zig-zag, it's easier to put it back on later), scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff inside. If you want to roast the seeds (totally advisable), rinse them off and set aside. Pack the stuffing inside the pumpkins, replace tops. Put the pumpkins on a baking sheet in the preheated oven, and cover with tinfoil or an additional baking sheet inverted. Pop in the oven, check after 20 minutes, check after an additional 10-20 minutes. Pumpkins are done when they are slightly soft, and slightly brown. Serve with the lids on, and let eaters open them.

SPICED PUMPKIN BARS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In a small bowl, combine the eggs, pumpkin and applesauce. Stir into the dry ingredients., Spread into a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned (do not overbake). Cool on a wire rack before cutting. Dust with confectioners' sugar if desired.

SPICY PUMPKIN SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds with a spoon (see tip below). Cut into wedges or chunks (keep the skin on) and tip into a bowl. Put the garam masala, and 1 tsp each of the coriander and cumin into a small bowl and mix with 2 tbsp of the oil and season. Drizzle over the pumpkin and toss well to coat in the spiced oil. Transfer to a baking tray, spread out evenly and roast for 40-45 mins, turning halfway through cooking, until the pumpkin is very soft when pierced with a fork. Leave to cool on the tray for a few minutes.
• Heat the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion with a pinch of salt for 10 mins until soft. Add the ginger, garlic and remaining spices and chilli flakes, and fry for a few more minutes until fragrant. Pour in the stock and bring to a gentle simmer.
• When the pumpkin is cool enough to touch, use a spoon to scoop the soft flesh from the skins. Add the soft pumpkin to the stock pan, discarding the skins. Remove from the heat and blitz the soup with a hand blender until creamy and smooth. Season to taste, adding extra chilli or garam masala if you like. Put back over a low heat and stir in the cream. Bring to a gentle simmer, then serve in bowls with a drizzle more cream and a pinch of chilli to serve. Top with toasted pumpkin seeds, if you like.

SPICY PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE

Steps:

• Whisk almond milk, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, and pepper together in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is almost boiling; remove from heat and whisk until frothy, about 1 minute. Divide mixture between 2 mugs.
• Slowly pour coffee into each mug. Top with whipped cream and pinch pumpkin pie spice.