The autumn heralds the arrival of everything pumpkin from small gourds and odd shaped knobbly pumpkins, yellow and orange, great for roasting and soups, or the ginormous pumpkins that everyone recognises for carving. The flesh is usually set aside and disposed, but this nutritious bi product shouldn’t be overlooked as it makes fantastic puree for pumpkin bread. This recipe has been created by Stefano Cifaldi, Head Chef at The Lodge on Loch Lomond.

Ingredients

Pumpkin Puree – 1 medium pumpkin, skin removed and diced, 20 ml olive oil

Pumpkin Bread – 300g flour

1tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

2tsp ground ginger

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp sea salt

½ tsp nutmeg

2 large eggs

250g caster sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

110 ml olive oil

50g pumpkin seeds

Method

1. To make the pumpkin puree, preheat oven to 180C. Rub olive oil over pumpkin and put into an ovenproof dish. Add a cup of water, cover with foil and bake in the oven for 60 minutes. Once cooked, set aside to cool and then puree.

2. To make the bread, oil a bread tin generously.

3. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a large bowl. In a medium bowl beat the sugar with the eggs. Fold in 2 cups of the pumpkin puree and the vanilla extract.

4. By combining both bowls, fold the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing till smooth. Fold in the olive oil, mixing till smooth.

5. Pour the batter into prepared bread tin and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds and a teaspoon of sugar.

6. Bake the bread for 60-70 mins, turning once halfway through.

7. Once cooked, cool on a wire rack for an hour.

8. Smother in butter and eat in front of a roaring fire with a cup of tea.