Think Happy Thoughts - A Recipe for Pumpkin Bread

Last week, I popped into Leonie's on the way home, and picked a beautiful big home grown (in the backyard) pumpkin.

I'm sure everyone is quite well aware of my aversion to anything vegetable, but surprisingly, I actually LIKE pumpkin.

I made Pumpkin Risotto on Sunday night, and then lastnight I made Pumpkin Bread.

I didn't have chilli powder so I added a smoky spice blend, but I really think that it actually needs more spice. You could also delete the chilli powder and add your own blend of spices (think nutmeg, cinnamon etc).

Here's the recipe from Taste.com.au

Preparation Time

10 minutes

Cooking Time

40 minutes

Makes

1 loaf

Ingredients

• Melted butter, to grease
• 300g (2 cups) self-raising flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp mild chilli powder
• 450g (1 cup) mashed
• cooked pumpkin
• 125ml (1/2 cup) milk
• 60g butter, melted, cooled
• 2 eggs, lightly whisked
• 2 tbs pepitas (pumpkin seed kernels)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush an 11 x 21cm (base measurement) loaf pan with melted butter to lightly grease. Sift the flour, salt and chilli powder into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre.
2. Place the pumpkin, milk, butter and egg in a jug, and use a whisk to stir until well combined. Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture, and stir with a large metal spoon until just combined. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Sprinkle evenly with pepitas.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from oven. Set aside in the pan for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool

Notes

• You'll need to steam about 500g peeled, deseeded, chopped pumpkin for this recipe. This bread is great for sandwiches and as an accompaniment to a chargrilled lamb salad.

So guess what I'm having for lunch today with slatherings of butter?