Pumpkin Bread

Okay, first recipe!
I tend to scrape out the flesh of my pumpkin, slap it in a roasting tray with a drizzle of oil & bake in a hot oven for 30 minutes, or until the flesh is soft & browned at the edges. You can leave it to cool & store in the fridge for adding to blended soups, risottos, mash & bakes.
You don't have to go through all that palaver if you don't want to. You can boil or steam your pumpkin flesh before using it in this recipe.
This is really easy if you have a breadmaker, a bit more time consuming if you don't, and a great way of using up pumpkins

Pumpkin Bread

200g/7oz cooked pumpkin flesh, cooled & mashed
110ml/1/2 cup milk or buttermilk (I use water & buttermilk powder)
2 tbs olive oil (you can use pumpkin seed oil if you have it, for a richer flavour)
375g/3 1/2 cups strong white flour (or you can use half wholemeal & half plain white)
125g/1 cup cornmeal/maizemeal or polenta flour (it's the same thing, it just has a thousand different names!)
30ml/2 tbs honey
1 1/2 tsp salt
5ml/1 tsp easy blend dried yeast
2 tbs pumpkin seeds

If using a breadmaker, tip all your ingredients into the machine (keeping the salt & yeast separate) & use the medium setting. In 3 hours, you will have bread. Yum.

If machineless, put your dry ingredients in a large bowl & mix, making a well in the centre. Mix your wet ingredients together & pour into the well. Slowly bring the flour from the edge of the well into the gloop, mixing until you have a rough dough (add a little flour if it's too wet, a little water if too dry). Tip out onto a floured surface & knead for 5-10 minutes until you have a firm, elastic dough. Put back in the bowl, cover & leave until doubled in size (about an hour). Punch down (oof, poor abused dough!) & shape into whatever you fancy - rolls, plaits, loaves, flatbread, shoggoths - anything you like, and leave for another hour. Place on a floured baking tray & put in a pre-heated oven (how hot & how long depends on what your making. Pizza dough, bread rolls & flatbread only need about ten minutes in an oven on full heat, loaves take longer at a lower setting, probably 45 minutes to an hour at 220C)

Om nom nom!