Re-use Halloween pumpkin flesh

Oct 28 2009 by Jade Wright, Formby Times

CARVING scary faces into pumpkins for Halloween is fun, but what happens to the flesh that gets scooped out?

A medium pumpkin produces around two kilos of flesh, but most of us just throw it in the bin. So, this year, Co-operative stores on Merseyside are urging customers not to throw away the flesh from their Halloween pumpkins, but use it up to make delicious and simple recipes for the family.

The Co-operative alone sells around 265,000 pumpkins each Halloween. Growers estimate that around 4m are sold every Halloween in the UK – so shoppers could be discarding 8,000 tonnes of perfectly edible pumpkin flesh. Pumpkin flesh can be used to make a variety of tasty and healthy dishes, and The Co-operative has enlisted the help of community chef, Mark Earndon, to create some inspiring and easy Halloween-themed recipes.

According to the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), UK households throw away a staggering 6.7m tonnes of food every year.