Use your gourd

Now that Halloween is over, what do you do with your pumpkin? If you haven’t carved it, it might last for months outside. Better to eat it, though, for a cheap and nutritious dinner.

A jack-o’-lantern is usually too watery for pie filling, but roast it up and serve it with quinoa or couscous or make it into soup. Hawks (5530 Douglas Boulevard in Granite Bay) has recently served Purée of Autumn Squash Soup, and OneSpeed (4818 Folsom Boulevard) makes a reliably delicious Ravioli of Winter Squash with brown butter and sage.

High in fiber and vitamin A, pumpkins and other yellow gourds are healthy additions to lots of dishes. Stir some purée into risotto; make pumpkin quick bread; or use it in lasagna instead of cheese and tomato sauce. If you want to get really creative, check out chef Pajo Bruich’s demonstrations of molecular gastronomy (www.pajoscatering.com). He’ll be making a squash espuma (mousse) soon as part of his First Flavors of Fall starter course.