If you care about your health, but at the same time like to eat tasty food, you should definitely find a place for pumpkin dishes in your diet.
Despite the rich set of beneficial microelements, pumpkin calorie content is small: about the same as cauliflower. In this case, the pumpkin is easily absorbed by the body, so it is often included in the children's and medical menu.
But this does not prevent the hostesses from preparing not only diet meals, but also those that can take pride of place on the festive table. Moreover, the pumpkin is beautifully stored almost until the next harvest, which means it can be useful for preparing winter dishes when the assortment of vegetables is not as rich as in summer or autumn.
An excellent recipe for any season is a pumpkin stuffed with meat, baked in the oven.
The subtleties of cooking stuffed pumpkin
For this dish you can use absolutely any pumpkin that fits in your oven. But it must be stable so that it does not tip over during baking.
Pumpkin variety does not play a special role. The main thing that the fruit was ripe, with no signs of damage and mechanical damage. Otherwise, during the preparation through the punctures and cracks, the filling liquid will flow out.
Some housewives are advised to cut the bottom of the pumpkin - for stability. But in this case, the integrity of the crust is broken, and it will no longer be possible to vouch for the juiciness of the dish.
For stuffing pumpkins you can take absolutely any meat: chicken, beef, lamb, pork. It can be cut into slices or twist through a meat grinder, put raw or first fry in a pan. Usually vegetables or cereals are added to meat, so feel free to use them in your dishes. From vegetables in the pumpkin you can put potatoes, onions, carrots, zucchini, eggplant, pepper. That is, those vegetables that you and your loved ones like. Of all the variety of cereals stuffing pumpkin best rice.
A bouquet of spices and spices will also help you enrich the taste of the dish. But, adding this or that seasoning, consider its compatibility with other ingredients.
How to prepare a pumpkin for stuffing
- Wash pumpkin thoroughly, wipe dry with a towel.
- Cut the upper part together with the stem in the form of a lid.
- In the pumpkin itself, make such a round hole so that you can easily stick your hand into it.
- Take out the seeds and loose flesh surrounding them.
- Carefully cut the layer of hard pulp, thereby expanding the internal space. Do not make walls too thin: their width should be at least 2.5-3 cm.
- Cut off the pulp can be used for another dish or cut into equal pieces, and then mixed with the filling.
Pumpkin stuffed with veal, baked in the oven
Ingredients:
- small pumpkin - 1 pc .;
- veal pulp - 500 g;
- small onions - 3 pcs .;
- potatoes - 2-3 pcs .;
- salt;
- garlic - 2 cloves;
- black pepper;
- seasoning for potatoes - to taste;
- bay leaf - 1 pc .;
- water.
Preparation Method
- Heat the oven to 200 °.
- Wash veal, blot with paper towels. Cut into small pieces.
- Peel onions, cut into four parts. Cut the peeled garlic cloves in half.
- Cut potatoes into large slices.
- Place the prepared pumpkin on a baking sheet. Put the meat inside, salt and pepper. Put onions and potatoes on it. Sprinkle with seasoning for potatoes. If there is enough space left inside the pumpkin, fill it with meat or potatoes.
- Pour in so much hot water that it covers the meat. It is not necessary to pour the top, because when baking in a pumpkin, juice from meat and vegetables is formed, which due to the abundance of liquid will flow out over the edge.
- Close the lid that was cut from the pumpkin. Put in the oven and bake for 90 minutes.
- The pumpkin will be ready when it becomes completely soft. This can be determined by a shriveled crust, which will become very supple. You can check the condition of the pulp by poking a pumpkin with a toothpick near the lid. Carefully remove the baking sheet. Allow the pumpkin to cool slightly. Put on the dish.
Tip! If you take a big pumpkin and it practically reaches the top level of the oven, its lid can burn while baking. To avoid this, remove it in the middle of cooking, and cover the hole of the pumpkin with a piece of foil. When until the end of baking will be 20-30 minutes, return the lid in place.
Pumpkin stuffed with chicken, baked in the oven
Ingredients:
- a small pumpkin - 1 pc .;
- chicken fillet - 500 g;
- onions - 1 pc .;
- carrots - 1 pc .;
- sunflower oil - 40 g;
- salt;
- black pepper;
- basil - to taste.
Preparation Method
- Prepare the pumpkin, as mentioned above. Place it on a baking sheet or in a pan.
- Cut the chicken fillet into small pieces, place in a frying pan preheated with butter, lightly fry.
- Add the onion and chopped carrots chopped into half rings. Fry everything together until the vegetables are soft. It will take you about 3-4 minutes to do this.
- Put spices and basil, mix.
- Stuff the pumpkin.
- Put in the oven, preheated to 190 °, and bake for 60-90 minutes, depending on the size and variety of pumpkin.
Pumpkin stuffed with minced meat, baked in the oven
Ingredients:
- a small pumpkin - 1 pc .;
- minced meat - 500-600 g;
- onions - 3 pcs .;
- salt;
- black pepper;
- seasoning for meat - 1/2 tsp.
Preparation Method
- Place the prepared pumpkin on the baking sheet.
- Finely chop the onion.
- The scraped pumpkin pulp cut into small cubes.
- Mix it with minced meat, chopped onions and spices. Add 2-3 tbsp. l cold water, mix.
- Fill the inside of the pumpkin. Close the lid.
- Put in the oven, preheated to 190-200 °, and bake for 60-70 minutes until the pumpkin is soft.
How to serve a whole roasted pumpkin with meat
- Put the baked pumpkin on a flat dish, put it on the table.
- Using a large spoon, place the meat stuffing into plates.
- Use a sharp knife to cut the walls of the pumpkin into wide, wide slices, put each in a plate.
- Sprinkle with chopped greens.
Mistress to note
At the very end of the cooking lid with a pumpkin can be removed, and sprinkle the stuffing with grated cheese. After the cheese has melted and reddened slightly, the pumpkin can be served on the table.
It is noticed that the pumpkin, cooked with the addition of vegetable oil, will be much tastier than with butter.
When preparing the filling, do not put a lot of salt, as the pumpkin does not like it.
Meat before stuffing can be marinated in mayonnaise, sour cream, vinegar. Marinade will make it softer, and the dish itself - spicier.
