Can you believe that until this week I’d never cooked with pumpkin before? It’s pretty tricky to find the tinned, puréed stuff here in the UK, and considering how difficult it is for my weak little arms to chop up a butternut squash, I didn’t think I stood much chance against an enormous pumpkin (also the reason I never eat watermelon). However, as a strike of fate, I found a couple of tins of it in the supermarket right as I was beginning to crave all the autumnal pumpkin recipes that I’d seen plastered across the web. Hence: pumpkin pot pies. Pumpkin lentil pot pies, actually. Cheesy ones!

I’ll be honest, when I first opened the tin of pumpkin, I was far from convinced – and after hearing great things about how obsessed American bloggers are with pumpkin, I was a little disappointed. It didn’t exactly taste good eaten straight from the tin – cold, mushy and just so vegetabley. But as soon as I started adding some seasonings and other ingredients, and warmed it through, I found that the pumpkin was a great addition, and it definitely added to the festive feel of these little pies. I’m glad I persevered!

I don’t know about where you are, but here, it literally hasn’t stopped raining all day. It’s been miserable. In fact today was the day that we finally gave in and turned the central heating on for the first time in months (hence why I am currently sat on the radiator). We usually try to wait until November before we turn it on, but it’s been so chilly today that we couldn’t resist. And this warming lunch was the perfect accompaniment! Served with a side of steamed broccoli, and drizzled (or, if I’m honest, drenched) in gravy, it was almost enough to make me appreciate the autumnal weather. Almost.

(I guess I’ve never had to type the word pumpkin much before because I keep trying to type ‘pumking’. Thank goodness for spellcheck.)