This stuffed and roasted butternut pumpkin (squash) is a beautiful thing to behold and delicious too! An excellent centrepiece for a vegetarian/vegan feast or as part of a celebration. Cindy cooked this one for just such an occasion. A winning recipe from the book RECIPETIN EATS: DINNER by Nagi Maehashi.
Preheat your oven to 200°C (390ºF). Cut a 1.8kg (2 lb) butternut pumpkin lengthwise. You will need a large and strong knife for this. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon and discard. Rub the pumpkin all over with some olive oil, and season with ½ a teaspoon of salt. Bake for 1 hour until the flesh is soft enough to be easily pierced with a knife. Don’t allow it to become too soft at this stage as it will cook some more when stuffed. Remove from the oven and allow to cool while you make the stuffing. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook 2 finely minced cloves of garlic,1 finely chopped red onion and 100g of finely chopped button mushrooms for a few minutes. Add ⅓ of a cup of dry puy lentils, ½ a cup of dried cranberries (or dried sour cherries), ½ a teaspoon each of finely chopped fresh rosemary and thyme, ½ a teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg, ⅓ of a cup of dry red wine and ¾ of a cup of low-salt vegetable stock. Simmer on low heat for 30 minutes, or until the liquid is all absorbed (tilt the saucepan to check). While this cooks, prepare 1¼ cups of cooked brown rice. When both are ready, stir in the rice and set aside for 10 minutes, then stir in 1 tightly packed cup of roughly chopped baby spinach (or other greens); ¼ of a cup each of chopped pistachios, roasted unsalted cashews and roasted almonds; ¾ of a teaspoon of salt and ½ a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Now that the stuffing is ready and the pumpkin has cooled, scoop out the flesh leaving a wall 1.75cm (⅔”) thick. Use a clean tea towel to squeeze any excess water out of the reserved flesh. The flesh should be like a soft ball of dough. Stir all of this reserved flesh into the stuffing mix. Sprinkle the scooped-out pumpkin shells with ¼ of a teaspoon of salt and pile the stuffing into one half, overfilling it so it mounds up. Place the other half of the pumpkin on top – the stuffing should fill the lid. Tie the two halves together by trussing with kitchen string every 3 cm (1¼”) to hold the pumpkin in shape. Bake for 40 minutes until the filling is hot in the middle. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes. To serve, cut into slices at least 2.5cm (1″) thick. If you wish you can serve with a yoghurt sauce: mix 1½ cups of yoghurt, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 1½ tablespoons of good olive oil and ¼ of a teaspoon of salt.
michelle picker cooks 