Roasted And Stuffed Pumpkin

Hello chefs! 😋

Are you cooking anything lately or just reheating bags or ready-made frozen meals?
Well, here we try to avoid this as much as possible and make dishes with home-grown crops, which are becoming scarce as winter ends.

In particular, the vegetables we grew last year are disappearing from our larder and it's the turn of the last pumpkin we have left to make a tasty dish. We had three types of pumpkin planted in the field, mostly Hokkaido, two large Muscat pumpkins, which we used to make various soups and bake with potatoes.
Now it's the last one :)

As you can see in the picture, this is a Butternut pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata), one of the so-called winter pumpkins because it lasts a long time in storage.
We usually use pumpkin at home to cook some vegetable soups or bake pieces. But since it's the last one, I thought I'd do something different. I'm going to stuff it and bake it in the oven. It's not a big pumpkin, this one is just over half a kilo, but it will be enough for four people.

The recipe is not complicated either, because it takes a while to bake in the oven, but that's about it. I didn't use any meat, just cheese. But if you want a vegan recipe you can use breadcrumbs, rice, or even couscous instead of the young cheese for stuffing.

What I needed to do:

one Butternut squash, 650 grams
3 baby onions
one leek stalk
fresh soft cheese 200 grams
grated Parmesan cheese, about 100 grams
and seasoning:
half a teaspoon of nutmeg
one teaspoon of Ras El Hanout Moroccan spice mix
one tablespoon of Green Curry paste
salt and pepper

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Preparation

First the pumpkin. I washed it, cut it in half, and removed the seeds.

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Then I hollowed out and deepened both halves a bit more so that more filling would go on it :)

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I continued by cutting the leeks and young onions into small pieces.

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And then I cut the squash flesh, which I hollowed out.

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All the ingredients for the stuffing are ready, I have added the so-called "home-made Vegeta", that is parsley, carrots, and onions, minced, and pickled in salt, I will add one tablespoon, and we can start roasting.

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Add two tablespoons of oil to a frying pan or wok if you have one, wait until it's very hot, and add the pumpkin pieces, the young onion, and a large spoonful of home-grown Vegeta, stir well to make sure it doesn't burn.

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Add the leeks and the remaining spices, stirring all the time.

After a few minutes, reduce the heat and cover with a lid to allow the steam to condense into liquid and the vegetables to soften.

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After a few minutes on low heat, remove the lid, once the vegetables have softened, and add the soft young cheese to the pan.

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Stir the mixture well and turn off the heat. Season with salt and pepper as necessary.

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Leave the filling to rest and cool for a bit while you grate about 100 grams of Parmesan cheese.

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First, brush both halves of the pumpkin well with oil and nutmeg. Then stuff the pumpkin. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.

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Place the stuffed pumpkins in an oven preheated to 200 degrees Celsius.

The pumpkin bakes between 30 and 40 minutes, depending on owen, and how crispy you want the cheese crust.
Use a fork to check if the pumpkin is cooked enough.

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Allow it to cool and then serve.
As I mentioned, one pumpkin is enough for four meals, which can be on its own or as a side dish.

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It was very good for me, my wife, and my older son. My younger son left it on his plate he didn't like it. But in the evening, at dinner, the last piece disappeared. Who ate it?
No one knows :)

Thank you for your attention, I will be glad if you try to make it at home and tell me if it was OK or not.

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Latest (this year) recipes: Stewed Turnip With Mushrooms.

You can also find some interesting recipes in my older cooking ventures :)

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