5 Healthy Ways to Pump Up the Fresh Pumpkin

This season, use a little elbow grease to break down fresh, in-season pumpkin so you can use it in some of fall's finest good-for-you recipes.
Cooking with Fresh Pumpkin

Preparing pumpkin

Mother and her little son preparing pumpkin

Though canned pumpkin puree stars in many of our favorite baked goods, fresh-picked pumpkin isn't as widely used, even when it's in season. As it turns out, fresh pumpkins have uses beyond jack-o'-lantern carving: Cooking with this tender-when-roasted squash variety brings a hearty, mildly sweet element to many of our favorite fall dishes.

This season, use a little elbow grease to break down fresh, in-season pumpkin so you can use it in some of fall's finest good-for-you recipes.

Next time you crave innately creamy risotto, bring morsels of diced, semisweet pumpkin into the mix. This Creamy Baked Pumpkin Risotto, made extra-creamy and luxurious with the addition of mascarpone cheese, is cooked in the oven so you won't have to stand over the stove for endless stirring.

Amplify the sweetness of standard pumpkin soup by bringing in juicy (and also in-season) apples. The Honeycrisp variety, as well as chopped sage, adds multiple layers of flavor to this healthy  Pumpkin-Apple Soup, which gets a garnish of chopped peanuts on top.

If you haven't considered fresh pumpkin as a contender for your side dishes, meet Anne Burrell's  Curried Pumpkin with Caramelized Onions. Cooked low and slow for over an hour, this mild, slightly sweet squash variety becomes dynamic with a seasoning of garam masala, red pepper flakes and toasted green pumpkin seeds.

Food Stylist: Anne Disrude
Prop Stylist: Marina Malchin

FN_10_2010 COVER 156139.tif

Food Stylist: Anne Disrude Prop Stylist: Marina Malchin,Food Stylist: Anne DisrudeProp Stylist: Marina Malchin

Scoop out a pumpkin's flesh to make way for a festive fall presentation of Food Network Magazine's  Squash Soup in Pumpkin Bowls. Use the hollow pumpkin as a vehicle for this healthy, creamy, slightly sweet soup, and bits of roasted and tender pumpkin will work their way into your spoonfuls.

Bring another side of fresh pumpkin into your comfort food dishes.  Turkey and Pumpkin Seed Chili may not call for the flesh of the fall favorite, but the pumpkin's seeds bring a satisfying crunchy element to warming, good-for-you and cocoa-spiked chili.

Next Up

10 Savory Ways to Use Pumpkin This Fall

There's more to pumpkin than pie and lattes.

The 5 Best Recipes for Cooking with Fresh Pumpkin

Use fresh pumpkin for a whole lot more than carving. Bring it into your favorite fall recipes, whether it's for dinner or dessert.

All the Ways to Eat Pumpkin Seeds

Whether or not you've been carving grinning pumpkins for your home's stoop, munching on pumpkin seeds is something you have to do this season.

5 Pumpkin-Centric Dishes to Make This Fall

Check out Food Network's top-five pumpkin recipes to find inspired ideas for using this fall ingredient in lunch, dinner and dessert dishes.

Save the Seeds After Carving Your Pumpkin — Here's What to Do with Them

Learn three new ways to flavor this fall-favorite snack.

Pumpkin Spice (and Everything Nice)

These pumpkin recipes should be on tap all season long.

6 Ways to Eat Pumpkin for Breakfast

Pumpkin is the unofficial mascot of fall. Get your fix at breakfast.

11 Healthy Recipes to Help You Reset for Fall

From pumpkin to Brussels sprouts and everything in between, it’s time to start cooking through autumn’s beautiful bounty.

How to Store Leftover Pumpkin Puree

Is it okay to store the whole can in the fridge? (Because we’ve all done it.)