Pumpkins! Yes, you can waddle through the mud in your best pair of rubber boots and pick your own gorgeous gourds at several farms across the Netherlands, mainly in September and October. Forget the sterile supermarket aisle—here, you get to be the great pumpkin hunter.
Grab a wheelbarrow (and maybe a friend for the heavy lifting) and head out to the patch. The fun part isn’t just picking the biggest one; it’s the search. You’ll find yourself drawn to the perfect curves, the ones that sit just right, the warty ones, the ghostly white ones, or the tiny decorative “baby boos.” Give each candidate a gentle thump—are they dense? Good. A ripe pumpkin has a hard skin you can’t dent with a fingernail and a dry, woody stem. Lift them—check for soft spots. Leave 5–10 cm of stem on the pumpkin, but don’t use it as a handle; if it breaks off, the pumpkin keeps less well. There’s something deeply satisfying about kneeling on the soil, spinning a potential contender, and cutting it free with a sharp knife or pruning shears. Don’t be surprised if you end up with more than you planned.
Back Home: The Pumpkin Enthusiast’s Playbook
So you’ve dragged your treasures home. Store them unwashed in a cool, dry, dark place (not the fridge), on a shelf or wooden board rather than stacked, and they’ll keep for one to three months. Some are for carving (spooky season!), but the real magic is in the cooking. Don’t throw out the seeds of your edible pumpkins! Rinse them, toss with oil and salt, and roast at 180°C until golden. You’re welcome.
Two Cooking Recipes (because life is too short for just pumpkin soup)
1. The Ultimate Roasted Pumpkin & Feta Flatbread Perfect for a lazy weekend lunch or a dinner nobody will complain about.
- What you need: 1 small pumpkin (like a Hokkaido – no peeling needed!), 1 red onion, 200g crumbled feta, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp honey, a pinch of chili flakes, salt, pepper, and a pre-made pizza dough or flatbread.
- What to do: Preheat oven to 200°C. Chop the pumpkin into small cubes (2cm), slice the red onion into thin wedges. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and chili. Spread on a baking tray and roast for 20 minutes. Drizzle with honey and roast another 5 minutes. Meanwhile, roll out your flatbread. When the pumpkin is soft, pile it onto the dough, crumble feta on top, and bake for another 10-12 minutes until the bread is golden. Finish with fresh mint or parsley. Eat warm.
2. Creamy Pumpkin & Coconut Curry (a hug in a bowl) Use any edible pumpkin variety.
- What you need: 500g pumpkin, peeled and cubed; 1 can of coconut milk; 1 onion, diced; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1 tbsp red curry paste; 1 thumb-size piece of ginger, grated; juice of 1 lime; salt; optional: chickpeas or spinach.
- What to do: In a large pot, sauté onion, garlic, and ginger until soft. Add curry paste and stir for 1 minute. Add the pumpkin cubes and stir to coat. Pour in the coconut milk and 200ml water. Simmer for 20 minutes until the pumpkin is tender. If you want, stir in a handful of spinach or a can of chickpeas at the end. Finish with lime juice. Serve over rice. You will want seconds.