Ingredients you need for your Stuffed Hokkaido Pumpkin
- 1 Hokkaido Pumpkin
- 1 large leek only the white part
- 1 small can / 220 g chickpeas
- 300 g beetroot cooked and peeled
- 2 large carrots
- 5 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon Harissa paste
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon coriander powder
- salt
- freshly ground black pepper
For the vegan pesto sauce:
- 1 cup fresh parsley
- 1 handful cashew nuts
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/2 lemon squeezed
- 100 ml water
- salt
- pepper
It was national pumpkin day in the USA yesterday. It is amazing that they chose a day of the year to celebrate this amazing fruit. I am happy I live in Europa and grew up in Eastern Europa as we have other nice tradition and celebrations but I truly love the autumn decoration with the little pumpkins and fall leaves and the cult to pumpkin around Halloween.
Usually, I get inspired by favorite American bloggers when it gets to pumpkin recipes but this one I tried in Sofia, Bulgaria. I tried this dish in one well-known Bakery / Restaurant a few years ago. I have been to this mainly vegan-dish restaurant many times but did not have the luck to see this meal on the daily menu again and since then I am trying to recreate it. The main ingredients are pumpkin, beetroot, and chickpeas and you need 50 minutes to cook this amazingly delicious meal.
Some nutrition facts for the main ingredients from Wikipedia: In a 100-gram amount, raw pumpkin provides 110 kilojoules (26 kilocalories) of food energy and is an excellent source (20% or more the Daily Value, DV) of provitamin A beta-carotene and vitamin A (53% DV). Beetroot (100 gram)is providing 43 Calories, raw beetroot is a rich source (27% of the DV) of folate and a moderate source (16% DV) of manganese and Vitamin C in moderate content (11% DV).
Chickpeas are a nutrient-dense food, providing rich content (20% or higher of the Daily Value, DV) of protein, dietary fiber, folate, and certain dietary minerals such as iron and phosphorus. Thiamin, Vitamin B6, magnesium, zink contents are moderate, providing 10–16% of the DV. So this sounds pretty healthy :).
I have used a small Hokkaido pumpkin (around 20 cm diameter) for this recipe as it makes perfect 2 portions. It was more than enough for my boyfriend and my leftover made a perfect next day lunch.
Let’s start cooking <3
How to prepare your Stuffed Hokkaido Pumpkin
Stuffed Hokkaido Pumpkin recipe
Ingredients
For the stuffed pumpkin
- 1 Pumpkin Hokkaido
- 1 Leek only the white part
- 300 g Beetroot cooked and peeled
- 2 Carrots
- 200 g Chickpeas a small can
- 5 tablespoons Tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon Harissa paste or other hot sause
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Coriander powder
- Salt
- Pepper freshly ground
For the vegan pesto
- 1 cup Parsley
- 1 handfull Cashew nuts
- 1 clove garlic
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 100 ml Water
- 1/2 Lemon only the juice
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
- Cut the pumpkin in two halves and remove the top so that both halves can be used as a dish for the filling. Preheat the oven to 180° C.
- Using a spoon remove the seeds. Then put the pumpkin halves on a baking sheet and spread 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a little bit of salt and bake for 30 minutes.
- Cut the carrots and leek in small pieces. Sautee in a large pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat until the vegetables become soft. Stir thoroughly so they do not get burned.
- Cut the beetroot into small cubes and add it to the carrots and leek. Wash and drain the chickpeas and add it in the pan.
- Mix the tomato paste and Harissa with some warm water (1/2 cup) and give to the veggies in the pan.
- Open the oven and take out the pumpkin. Using a spoon take the liquid out of the pumpkin and add it to the vegetables in the pan. Take one or two spoons of the pumpkin too and add it in the pan. This will add some pumpkin flavor to the filling.
- Season with coriander powder, salt and pepper and stir.
- Take a large spoon and fill the stuffing in the pumpkin and put back in the oven for 15 -20 minutes at 200°C.
- In this time peel the garlic clove and wash the parsley. Put all vegan pesto ingredients in a food processor, season with salt and pepper and mix until smooth.