|
Holiday
Stuffed Pumpkin
From: QuietRoad
Thanksgiving stuffed pumpkin recipe;
Preparation time: 90 minutes
- A handsome pumpkin about 10? diameter with a solid stem attached
- 2 cups short-grain brown rice or brown basmati rice
- 1 cup other whole grains
(2/3 c. wild rice and 1/3 c. barley is our standard,
but any grain with a different texture from rice-like millet or
wheat berries-will be fine)
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup chopped onion and 3/4 cup chopped celery
- 1 or 2 cups sliced apples
- a sweet red pepper, chopped finely (optional)
- 1 tsp dried sage (or more to taste) and 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon,
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
and 1/4 tsp ground cloves (all optional)
- 1 to 2 cups cooked garbanzos
(or kidney beans or any other mild bean that won't fall apart
during baking)
or a package of tofu diced very finely or crumbled
- 1 cup peeled and sliced roasted chestnuts
- 1/2 cup raisins, sultanas or fresh cranberries
- 1/2 cup chopped almonds or filberts or pine nuts or butternuts
- 1/4 c. chopped parsley
- 1 tsp soy sauce
or 3 tbsp frozen concentrated orange juice
(depending on whether you want to tilt the flavor toward sweet
or savory)
- grated black pepper to taste
- maple syrup or cranberry sauce or a fruit chutney
Preheat oven to 400º.
Carefully cut the top off the pumpkin with the knife angled toward
the center of the pumpkin so the lid won?t fall in when baked.
Clean the seeds and strings out of the center of the pumpkin
(wash seeds and save for toasted pumpkin seeds),
put a couple of tbsps of water into it, oil the cut edges of both
pumpkin and its lid, and bake both parts on a baking sheet for about
40 minutes,
or until the pumpkin is quite soft when poked with a fork.
While the pumpkin is baking, cook the grains as usual.
Sauté the onion until translucent, then add the apples, celery, chestnuts,
herbs and spices, and cook until the apples are just starting to get
soft.
(Add a bit of water if needed).
Mix in beans or tofu, raisins, nuts, parsley, soy or orange, and sweet
red pepper and heat gently.
Add grains and mix well.
When the pumpkin is baked, stuff it.
Replace lid tightly.
Lower the oven temperature to 350º and bake on a baking sheet for
about 30 more minutes, or longer if stuffing was not hot when pumpkin
was stuffed.
Bring the pumpkin to the table.
Hand the youngest or oldest person a pot holder, and let them remove
the lid.
(You?ll probably get a big puff of steam).
Applaud the lid lifter and the pumpkin.
Serve the stuffing with a slice of pumpkin topped with a bit of
maple syrup, cranberry sauce or a fruit chutney.
|
