Halloween will soon be upon us which means pumpkins are in abundance again, ready to be carved into wonderful, illuminated decorations.

The carved pumpkin has long-since been the emblem of Halloween, made popular in American after Irish immigrants brought over their tradition of carving vegetables to ward off evil spirits. Halloween has always been big business in the US, but in recent years has also become the UK’s second largest retail festival after Christmas.

From a culinary point of view, I always take advantage of this bounty of autumnal veg and pick up a few pumpkins while they’re relatively cheap and easy to come by.

As lovely as a carved Halloween pumpkin looks I always think it’s a shame that it’s only really used for this purpose in this country (bar the occasional seasonal dish in a restaurant).

An estimated 10 million pumpkins are grown in the UK every year with 95 per cent being carved out as lanterns for Halloween! Now that’s a lot of wasted food if you ask me.

Pumpkin is a wonderful autumnal vegetable that can be used in a variety of delicious dishes.

Boil, bake, steam or roast it, add it to soups, stews or curries, use it as a pasta filling or bake into a pie – the list is endless.

You can even make pumpkin beer if you’re handy at brewing! Roasted pumpkin seeds are also great on their own as a snack and can be added to flapjacks, granola and biscuits.

One of my favourite pumpkin dishes is this creamy risotto, which is a really comforting and nutritious dish for a cold autumn night. Making risotto takes time, but once you mastered the basic recipe you can add anything you like to it to create the finished dish.

Pumpkin Risotto

(serves 4)

1 pumpkin

300g Arborio (risotto) rice

200ml white wine

1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

25g butter

100ml double cream

75g parmesan cheese

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt & pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 180c. Cut the pumpkin in half and discard the seeds. Chop into 6 pieces, drizzle with a little oil and season. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes until softened.

Heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the onions over a medium heat until translucent and soft.

Add the garlic and stir in the rice so that the grains are mixed well into the oil and onions.

Cook for a couple of minutes before adding the wine and stir until all the liquid is absorbed.

Gradually add the stock a bit at a time, stirring throughout and allowing the rice to absorb the liquid before more stock is added.

By the time the last bit of stock is poured in, the rice should be plump and almost cooked. If it seems undercooked you can add a little more liquid but it should still retain a slight bite at this stage.

Meanwhile, remove the pumpkin from the oven and scoop the flesh from the skin before roughly chopping.

Shave a few slivers off the cheese to place on top of the finished dish and set aside, then grate the rest.

Finally, once all the stock has been absorbed stir in the butter, cream and grated parmesan. Add the pumpkin and remove from the heat.

Cover and allow to rest for five minutes before serving. Garnish with the shaved parmesan, some cracked black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.