As you can buy a decent-sized pumpkin for under £2 at the moment, it’s a vegetable that should be taken seriously given today’s increasing food costs, even if your main aim is to carve it for a Halloween party tonight. By retaining the flesh you have carved out, you can make a very tasty pasta dish that can be served during the Halloween celebrations. You will probably have enough pumpkin flesh to roast as an extra vegetable and turn into a soup too.

YOU WILL NEED: One medium onion, chopped fine One red capsicum, de-seeded and chopped fine One clove garlic chopped fine Olive oil to roast pumpkin 4 fl oz (120ml) single cream 3 fl oz (90ml) milk Four slices bacon 1lb (450g) dried pasta of your choice Small bunch parsley, chopped fine Salt and freshly ground black peppercorn to season.

METHOD: Chop the pumpkin flesh so that it is all the same size, place in a roasting tin, brush with olive oil, season and roast in a medium oven until soft and beginning to brown.

Remove from the oven, allow to cool a little, then puree in a food processor and set to one side In a medium-sized pan, gently sauté the chopped onion, garlic and capsicum in a little olive oil and cook until soft.

Add the pumpkin puree to the pan, along with the chopped parsley and cream. Taste, adjust seasoning and set to one side while you cook the pasta in boiling salted water until done — this should take no longer than 15 minutes.

When the pasta is almost cooked, reheat the pumpkin sauce, adding as much of the milk as you feel is needed to make a sauce of pouring consistency and grill the bacon slices until crispy.

Strain the cooked pasta, and toss it together with the pumpkin sauce. Cut the grilled bacon into bits and scatter on the top.