Stuffing pumpkin: 2 simple recipes with and without meat

Oh, lovely pumpkin season
With or without meat: These two fillings spice up any pumpkin

Pumpkin is in peak season in autumn. Its pulp is not only extremely tasty, but also rich in valuable vitamins that arm us against the cold temperatures in autumn. If you still can’t stand pumpkin soup anymore, here are two new recipe ideas.

After Hokkaido mutated into a trendy vegetable in recent years, pumpkin soup celebrated its culinary comeback. Whether with cream or coconut milk, carrots or ginger – one new creation quickly followed another. There’s nothing wrong with eating soup if you like it. Especially in the cold, wet season, pumpkin is a real vitamin booster that can strengthen your immune system. But does it really have to be the same soup every year or are there other ways to turn the orange-red vegetables into a delicious dish? After all, the Hokkaido has the advantage of being completely edible. So why not save yourself all the chopping and just hollow out the pumpkin and fill it? Below you will find two delicious recipe ideas – one with and one without meat.

Stuffed pumpkin with minced meat

To prepare it you need the following ingredients:
(enough for approx. 4 to 6 people)

Step 1: Cut off the top of the pumpkins and remove the pulp and seeds with a spoon, leaving an edge about two centimeters thick. If you don’t need lids, you can also cut the pumpkins in half. Then brush the inside with a little olive oil and season the whole thing with salt and pepper. The pumpkins, including the lids, are then placed in the 180 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes (depending on how thick the edge is).

Step 2: Meanwhile, you can chop the onions and garlic, cut the peppers and carrots into small cubes and add some oil in one non-stick pan heat. First, sauté the garlic with the onions until they look translucent, then add the carrot and pepper cubes until everything is golden brown – then fry the minced meat. If you like, you can also stir pumpkin pulp into the mixture.

Step 3: Season the minced meat mixture as desired with tomato paste, cumin, marjoram, thyme, paprika powder, salt and pepper. Then deglaze the pumpkin filling with red wine and let the whole thing simmer briefly before adding the cream. Now take the pan off the heat and add the sour cream to the mixture. Take the pumpkins out of the oven and fill them so that the lid still fits on them and sprinkle the gratin cheese over them. Then bake them for another 30 minutes.

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November 19, 2021

Stuffed pumpkin with rice and vegetables

For the vegetarian version you need the following ingredients:
(enough for approx. 4 to 6 people)

Step 1: The pumpkins are cut in the same way as in the previous recipe, hollowed out and placed on a plate baking paper Pre-cooked on a lined baking tray in the oven. Until these can be filled, cook the rice in salted water until it is soft – or even a little firm to the bite. In the meantime, you can cut the onions into small cubes, finely grate the carrots and roughly dice the peppers.

Step 2: Pour the chickpeas into a sieve and let them drain briefly. Meanwhile, you can combine the cumin and coriander seeds in one mortar grind finely. Then pour some olive oil into a non-stick pan, fry the onions until translucent and add the crushed seeds and some paprika powder. Fry everything briefly, then do the same with the carrots and peppers.

Step 3: Salt the contents of the pan before folding in the chickpeas and rice. Only add the cashew nuts to the filling at the end so that they stay nice and crunchy. Season everything again before pouring the mixture into the pumpkins that have just come out of the oven. Now bake the stuffed vegetables again for at least 15 minutes (depending on how big the pumpkins are).

Herb dip for the vegetarian filling

So that the rice filling doesn’t taste too dry, you can serve the dish with a fresh herb dip (which theoretically also goes well with the minced meat filling). You only need a few ingredients:

Put all the ingredients – except the herbs – in a small bowl Peel and mix them together until a creamy consistency is created. Finally, stir the herbs into the dip and give it a final taste.

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