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.
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. Then put the pumpkins, including the lid, in the oven at 180 degrees 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 heat some oil in a non-stick pan. 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.
For the vegetarian version you need the following ingredients: (enough for approx. 4 to 6 people)
Cumin seeds
The coriander seeds
Step 1: The pumpkins are cut in the same way as in the previous recipe, hollowed out and pre-cooked in the oven on a baking tray lined with baking paper. 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 finely grind the cumin and coriander seeds in a mortar. 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).
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 and mix them together until you get a creamy consistency. Finally, stir the herbs into the dip and give it a final taste.
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