Pumpkin in my oven, not in a slogan

In autumn a pumpkin sits on our board most weeks: heavy, orange, sometimes with a bit of earth still on the stalk. I don't buy it as a symbol of the season or because a label says it is good for me. I buy it because supper needs a vegetable that turns sweet in the oven by itself while I wash up and put the kettle on.

Roasting is the simplest thing I do with pumpkin, and the one I come back to most. Boiled pumpkin is watery and a little sad; roasted pumpkin caramelises at the edges, the flesh goes soft and dense, and the whole kitchen smells sweet. It needs a hot oven, a big tray and almost nothing else.

Which pumpkin? Almost any works. The big round carving pumpkins are edible but more watery; smaller pumpkins and squashes such as butternut have denser, sweeter flesh and roast better. When I choose one, I look for a pumpkin that feels heavy for its size, with firm skin and no soft or mouldy patches, and a dry, firm stalk.

First I wash the outside under the tap and scrub off any soil, because the knife will carry whatever is on the skin into the flesh. Then I cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and strings with a spoon, and cut it into wedges about two or three centimetres thick at the widest part. Not thin slices: thin ones burn at the edge while the middle is still hard. With most pumpkins I leave the skin on; it softens in the oven and peels away easily afterwards, or you can eat it on smaller squashes.

The wedges go into a bowl with a tablespoon or two of oil, a good pinch of salt, and sometimes black pepper or a pinch of paprika. I turn them with my hands so every piece is coated. Then onto a large tray in one layer, with a little space between them. This matters more than anything: a heap of pumpkin steams in its own water, and you get soft, pale pieces with no colour. One layer gives a crust.

The oven goes to 200°C, or 180°C for a fan oven. The wedges roast for thirty to forty minutes, turned once halfway through, until the edges are browned and a fork goes into the thickest part without any effort. Smaller squash cooks faster than a big pumpkin, so I start checking at twenty-five minutes.

If there is time, the seeds go on the same tray for the last fifteen minutes, rinsed and dried first. If there isn't, they can wait in a covered bowl in the fridge for a day.

We eat roasted pumpkin with meat or fish, with buckwheat or rice, or just as it is, with a spoonful of soured cream for whoever wants it. It is good warm, and good at room temperature in a salad with leaves and a little cheese.

Leftovers are almost the best part. I let them cool, put them in a covered box in the fridge within two hours, and use them within two days. The next day they go into soup, blended with stock, or into a frying pan with an egg, or mashed onto toast. When I reheat them, I heat them until they are steaming hot right through.

A whole uncut pumpkin keeps for weeks in a cool, dry place. Once it is cut, the rest goes into the fridge, wrapped, and gets used within a few days. Pumpkin in my house lives in the oven, on the plate and in the pot, not on the windowsill until it goes soft by itself.

Do you roast pumpkin as an ordinary weekday supper, or is it only for Halloween in your house?