FALL HEAD OVER HEELS THIS FALL

Screw unrequited love. These guys will never break your heart.

Ahh pumpkins – the reliable vegetable. Forget those dark, dangerous vegetables that never called you back. Forget those soft, squishy peas that squirmed at the idea of commitment. Forget those cruel, thin-lipped carrots that refused to compromise on movie night. The safe, sturdy pumpkin would never let you down. Every autumn, it fills your kitchen with its beaming orange grin, reflecting the golden leaves drifting down from the trees outside. It fills your soups with flavour, it spices your loaves of bread, and every Halloween its mischievous carved grin illuminates the road to candy heaven. So how can you make the most of pumpkins this autumn? Whether you’re a cook or just an avid eater, here are 10 unique ways to enjoy your favourite autumn vegetable.

1. Roasted pumpkin, feta and caramelised onion salad. As easy as pie (but without the calories). Roast 2cm cubes of pumpkin with salt and pepper in the oven, caramelise 2 sliced red onions with balsamic vinegar and brown sugar and toss all ingredients into a bowl with rocket leaves and roasted pine nuts, before crumbling feta over the top. Et voila! The perfect antidote for the lunchtime sandwich fatigue

2. Pumpkin, bacon and leek quiche. Quiches are sadly overlooked as Grandma favourites, but they’re actually incredible party dishes and keep for a long time in the fridge after first use. Use 2 sheets of shortcut pastry for the base, throw in roasted pumpkin cubes, sautéed bacon pieces and leek, pour over 4 eggs beaten with a cup of cream, top with grated cheese and chives, bake for half an hour at 160°C and you’ve got yourself a sure-fire crowd pleaser! (You’re welcome).

3. Pumpkin fries. Yes, you heard me. Pumpkin fries. If you’re sick of eating soggy McDonalds sad-fries (I believe this is their technical term) at 3am after a big night out, then whip up a bowl of these so you have healthier alternatives to come home to. Simply cut pumpkins into thick strips, drizzle with olive oil, dip in a bed of salt, pepper, garlic powder and cayenne pepper, chuck in the oven for 30 minutes and your taste buds will throw a party in your mouth. No cleaning up required afterwards.

4. Pumpkin soup. This is a classic winter staple and you’ve probably eaten it at hall a thousand times already. But before you stop reading, have you ever considered adding thyme, turmeric, allspice or bay leaves? A spicy African-inspired pumpkin soup will chase away your winter blues with its fire-breathing properties! Add buttery toasted croutons and it’s happy days.

5. Roasted pumpkin risotto with blue cheese, rocket and olive oil. Before you stagger off to Sainsbury’s to pick up groceries for the ride home, why not stop into Bill’s on Green Street (right next door) for his roast pumpkin and blue cheese risotto? If its happy orange complexion doesn’t bring a smile to your face, then its creamy cheesy goodness definitely will. Only £9.95 for a very contented stomach.

6. Pumpkin spice bread. Forget banana bread or carrot cake. Pumpkin spice bread is your autumn staple. Grab a seat at Starbucks, put up your feet, and sink your teeth into a warm, toasty slice of pumpkin bread flavoured with autumn spices and sprinkled with toasted pumpkin seeds. There’s no better way to spend an afternoon browsing Facebook – I mean, studying – on your laptop.

7. Pumpkin spice lattes. Since August 2012, there have been over 29,000 tweets featuring the hash tag #pumpkinspice. Now I’m no tweeter, but I can tell you that tweeting of such magnitude is justified. The pumpkin spice latte (or “PSL” as it’s affectionately known) is the perfect blend of espresso, pumpkin-flavoured syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, topped with steamed milk, whipped cream and autumn spices. It’s basically autumn in swirling, steaming liquid form. Starbucks have spent 10 years perfecting this baby, and you can bet that they’ve finally got it right

8. Pumpkin bowl. So Halloween is over and you’ve still got some crazy looking carved pumpkin heads sitting on your kitchen bench top. Before you throw them away, consider their use as serving bowls. Think about it – the inside is already sweet and edible, and if you serve your next meal inside the pumpkin, that’s one less bowl to clean up, and one more date you can impress. You do the math.

9. Pumpkin pancakes. You drag yourself out of bed on a Saturday morning, bleary-eyed and dishevelled, wondering how you even got home last night. And then you realise that you’re out of both milk and cereal. The cupboard’s empty and you can’t find your favourite slippers. The world seems grim. But before you start crying, check your roommate’s cupboard for 5 basic things: milk, eggs, flour, sugar and spices. Combine 1.5 cups of milk, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons of cooking oil and 1 cup of pureed pumpkin (from that pumpkin you carved on Halloween) in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine 2 cups of self-raising flour, 3 tablespoons of sugar, a pinch of salt and 1 teaspoon of allspice, cinnamon and ginger each. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just combined, and cook a quarter of a cup of batter on the griddle at a time. Within 10 minutes, you should have a steamy batch of beautiful orange pancakes to help you through your hangover. Maybe offer some to your roommate too.

10. Miniature fondant pumpkins to decorate the doorstep of your haunted Halloween gingerbread house. Because they say more than a welcome mat and because no haunted gingerbread house would be complete without them.