Foto: BB.LV
It’s pumpkin season at markets and supermarkets now. This product, available in various sizes and colors, enjoys consistent popularity due to its wonderful taste. You can prepare many hearty and memorable dishes with pumpkin. We offer you a new collection of pumpkin recipes. Pumpkin Stuffed with Meat and Rice Ingredients: Pumpkin – 2.5 kg; Pork – 700 g; Rice – half a cup; Large carrot – 1 piece; Large onion – 1 piece; Butter – 1 tbsp; Herbes de Provence (optional). Freshly ground pepper. Salt. Vegetable oil. Cooking Method: Cut off the top of the pumpkin, remove the seeds and fibers, and grease the inside walls of the pumpkin with butter and salt. Cut the meat into small pieces. Chop the onion and sauté it in vegetable oil until soft. Peel the carrot, wash it well, and grate it on a coarse grater. Add the carrot to the onion, mix, and fry for 1-2 minutes. Transfer the sautéed carrot and onion to a bowl. Then, sauté the meat in vegetable oil and also transfer it to the bowl with the carrot and onion. Boil the rice until half-cooked, then drain the excess water, add it to the bowl with the meat and vegetables. Season everything with salt, pepper, and add the herbes de Provence, mixing well. Place the pumpkin in a baking dish and fill the pumpkin “pot” with the filling. Then cover the filled pumpkin with the previously cut “lid” and send it to a preheated oven at 200 degrees for one to one and a half hours. When serving, scoop out the filling, taking a bit of the flesh from the walls of the pumpkin. Pumpkin Stew with Meat Ingredients: Beef (tender) – 500 g; Pumpkin flesh – 400 g; Water – 400 ml; Potatoes – 300 g; Carrot – 1 piece; Large tomato – 1 piece; Garlic – 2 cloves; Vegetable oil – 3 tbsp; Tomato paste – 2 tbsp; Dry spices (for shashlik) – 1 tbsp; Black pepper to taste; Salt to taste. Cooking Method: To prepare the dish, choose a pumpkin that is not too soft; otherwise, the pieces will quickly turn to mush and become a stew. Wash the meat, cut it into pieces, and do the same with the tomato. It should be juicy but firm. Soft tomatoes do not hold their shape well and will fall apart during cooking. Peel the carrot and cut it into half-moons. If the diameter of the carrot is large, you can cut it into quarters. Peel the potatoes and cut them into medium pieces. It’s better to choose potatoes that hold their shape and do not fall apart during long stewing. The flesh of such potatoes should be yellowish. If the flesh is white, it means the potato has a lot of starch, and it will quickly turn to mush. The yellower and firmer the tubers, the less starch they contain. Peel the garlic and finely chop it or press the cloves through a garlic press. In water, add the tomato paste, sprinkle in the shashlik spices, salt, and pepper. Mix everything thoroughly until smooth. You can replace the water and tomato paste with ready-made tomato juice, but it’s better not to add salt right away. First, you need to taste the juice, and then add salt if necessary. Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan. Add the beef and fry over high heat until golden brown. Add the prepared vegetables to the meat and fry everything together, stirring, for about 10 minutes. Add a whole onion to the frying pan if it was not added earlier in chopped form. Pour in the diluted tomato paste (or tomato juice) with the spices. Add the chopped garlic. Mix everything thoroughly, bring to a boil, and simmer covered for 25-30 minutes over low heat at a gentle simmer. Serve the finished stew on plates and sprinkle with chopped herbs. Pumpkin Casserole with Chicken Ingredients: Pumpkin – 600 g; Chicken fillet – 400 g; Sour cream (21% fat) – 200 g; Eggs – 2 pieces; Dried herbes de Provence – 0.5 tsp; Smoked paprika – 0.5 tsp; Ground turmeric – 0.25 tsp; Ground dried garlic – 0.25 tsp; Salt – 0.75 tsp (to taste); Freshly ground pepper (pepper mix) – a pinch (to taste); Vegetable oil (for greasing the dish) – 1 tsp. Cooking Method: Peel the pumpkin and cut it into cubes. Grease a baking dish with vegetable oil and place the pumpkin in it. Wash the chicken breast and cut it into small cubes. Place the meat in the dish with the pumpkin. Add salt, herbes de Provence, dried garlic, turmeric, paprika, and pepper mix. Gently mix the contents. Mix the sour cream with the eggs until smooth. Evenly distribute the mixture over the pumpkin and chicken. Place the casserole in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 40 minutes. If the pumpkin is firm, bake until soft.
