Wedges of my first Rouge Vif D’Etampes pumpkin are now spread across Hobart. 

Most friends told me they will make pumpkin soup so I decided to pass on one of my standard but very different recipes: a meal I make fairly regularly. The star ingredient is in this case, of course, the Cinderella pumpkin. With washed skin on, a wedge of pumpkin is cut into pieces. In a pot with some water, the pumpkin is boiled for up to 10 minutes – the time depends on the size of the pieces.

The second component is a pesto.  Each time I make this I use different nuts, herbs, and/or spices. No two mixes are ever the same which makes the meal forever interesting. Today’s pesto was a crush of almonds, rock salt, powdered cumin and turmeric and cayenne pepper, one or two cloves of garlic, chopped parsley and a splash of high quality extra virgin olive oil.

Once the pumpkin is cooked it is poured into a bowl already containing the pesto and then partly crushed while mixing with the pesto.

Now what?  Simply start eating this Pesto’d Pumpkin. It adds sunshine to a wonderful Tasmanian autumn.