Why pumpkins aren’t just for Halloween – and three recipes to make the most of them

Sign up to IndyEat's free newsletter for weekly recipes, foodie features and cookbook releases Get our food and drink newsletter for free Get our food and drink newsletter for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “With some gentle aromatic spices, you can’t really go wrong.” Equally, he says roasting a pumpkin in good olive oil or boiling and mashing it with salty butter will yield delicious results without additional adornment. For the filling: Ingredients: 600g pumpkin or squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into 1cm chunks Extra virgin olive oil 1kg Swiss chard, roughly chopped 250g ricotta 100g mascarpone 1 white onion, finely diced Pecorino, to taste Nutmeg clove, to taste Salt and pepper Method: Preheat your oven to 180C fan/200C/400F/gas mark 6. For the gratin: Ingredients: 500ml double cream 500ml whole milk 1 bunch of thyme, finely chopped 10 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated ½ nutmeg clove 1 small pumpkin, such as Delica or Violina, unpeeled, deseeded and thinly sliced 1 small celeriac, peeled and thinly sliced 2 large baking potatoes, thinly sliced 200g Gorgonzola, broken up into a small chunks 125g butter, cubed, plus extra for greasing Salt and pepper Method: Preheat your oven to 180C fan/200C/400F/ gas mark 6 and butter an ovenproof dish or deep roasting tin. For the pumpkin: Ingredients: 1.2kg pumpkin or squash, cut into large wedges and deseeded 1 tbsp dark brown sugar 2 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground turmeric 1 tsp chilli flakes ½ tsp ground cinnamon Extra virgin olive oil Salt and pepper Method: Preheat your oven to 200C fan/220C/425F/gas mark 7.