Butternut pumpkin

Peel it for a smooth soup or mash; a sturdy Y-shaped peeler makes the job easier. For roasting, you can leave the skin on if you cut the pumpkin into wedges and cook it until tender, though the skin may stay firmer than the flesh.

Trim the ends, stand it on the flat base and cut it lengthways with a large, sharp knife. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon, then slice the neck and bulb separately; if the skin is too hard to cut, microwave the whole pumpkin for 2–3 minutes to soften it slightly.

Cut into roughly 2 cm cubes, toss with a little oil and roast at 200 °C for 25–35 minutes, turning once, until browned and easily pierced with a fork. Wedges usually take 35–45 minutes.

Keep cut pumpkin covered in the fridge and use it within about five days. You can freeze peeled cubes raw, or roast them first; spread them on a tray to freeze separately before transferring them to a freezer container.

It works well in soup, risotto, curry and pasta, and its sweetness pairs especially well with sage, chilli, garlic, lentils and feta. Roast cubes until caramelised and add them to a grain salad, or blend the cooked flesh into a smooth soup.

Yes. Rinse the seeds, remove the stringy pulp and dry them well; toss with a little oil and roast at 160 °C for about 15–20 minutes, stirring once. They are ready when crisp and lightly golden.

The names are often used for the same sweet, orange-fleshed winter squash, though naming differs between regions and food lists. In the supplied food data, butternut pumpkin has 44 kcal per 100 g, while butternut squash has 42 kcal.

Yes: peel it, remove the seeds and slice the firm flesh very thinly or grate it into a salad. Its texture is crisp and its flavour less sweet than when roasted; discard it if a cut surface tastes distinctly bitter.