Roast Stuffed Pumpkin
Author:Tender, sweet, baked pumpkin stuffed with a delicious mixture of rice, vegetables, nuts & cranberries. A beautiful centrepiece for your Thanksgiving gathering!
Ingredients
- ½ cup (60 grams) chopped walnut pieces
- 1 medium pumpkin , or round squash, ( approximately 8 inch diameter - If your pumpkin is very different in size then please see the recipe notes)
- 2 teaspoons olive oil , optional (or any other kind of oil you like)
- 1 medium onion , chopped finely
- 3 large cloves garlic , chopped finely
- 10 white or cremini mushrooms , chopped into small pieces
- 1 packed cup (200 grams) cooked & cooled rice , any kind of rice is fine although there will be more flavour/texture if you use wild rice
- ½ cup (60 grams) dried cranberries
- 1 large handful fresh spinach , chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano , or use dried mixed herbs instead of the oregano and thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- salt & pepper , to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 °C)
- Toast the walnuts in a skillet over medium heat for two minutes until they smell really nutty and toasted. keep them moving constantly. Remove from heat, pour into a small bowl and set aside.
- Sauté the onions and garlic in one teaspoon of the oil until just starting to turn golden. If you wish to keep the recipe oil-free use a tablespoon or two of water instead of the oil and as more as necessary.
- Add the mushrooms and cook for 1 minute longer then remove from the heat and allow to cool.
- Carefully cut the top off the pumpkin (about the top third) and set aside.
- If you can't see the seedy innards then just use a small sharp knife to cut a circle out of the flesh at the top and pull it out like a plug. Remove the stringy innards and seeds.
- Brush the inside of the pumpkin with the remaining 1 teaspoon of olive oil (omit if you want the recipe to be oil-free) then season the inside of the pumpkin generously with salt and pepper.
- Place the cooked rice, dried cranberries, chopped spinach, toasted walnuts, herbs, cumin and the sauteed onions, garlic and mushrooms into a bowl and mix well together. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Spoon the rice mixture into the pumpkin cavity, pressing down hard to pack it in tightly and keep going until it's full.
- Place the pumpkin top back on then wrap completely and tightly in foil.
- Place on a baking tray and bake for around 1 hr 30 mins or until tender. Check it by pulling back some foil and inserting a knife or a fork into the side. If it is soft and the knife goes in easily it is ready.
- Remove from the oven and leave for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
NOTES
Pumpkin a different size? There is a trick for you to work out how much rice you need to fill it. Just cut the top off and remove the stringy innards and seeds as per my directions. Place a plastic bag inside the cavity and put enough rice in the bag to fill a little under half of the pumpkin. remove the bag, add the rice to a pan and cook as per the directions on the packet. You will also need to adjust the quantity of the other ingredients to suit the size of your pumpkin.
Making in advance - Important. Please read the information on rice and food safety in the post above.
NUTRITION
Serving: 1of 6 serving | Calories: 231kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 10mg | Potassium: 999mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 19765IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 84mg | Iron: 3mg
