Stuffed Mini Pumpkins
Enjoy stuffed mini pumpkins as a side-dish, a light lunch or main dish. What's more, they're tasty, quick and easy too! Use the recipe base as a guide to your creativity to make it vegetarian or with meat.
Ingredients
- 4 mini pumpkins (Jack-be-Little or Munchkins) washed and dried
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 12 mushrooms chopped
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 60 g (2½oz) walnuts (or pre-cooked chestnuts)
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika (or bacon rashers, chopped)
- 4 tablespoon crème fraîche half fat (or Greek yoghurt)
- 1 tablespoon fresh flat leaf parsley finely chopped (or 1 teaspoon rosemary, thyme, sage)
- 100 g (4 tbsp) cheese (Emmental, Comté, Parmesan, or Cheddar) grated (keep half for grilling at the end)
- ¼ teaspoon freshly milled pepper & pinch fleur de sel or Celtic salt
Instructions
- Prick each mini pumpkin with a fork underneath and cook them on plate in the microwave for 4-5 minutes. If you don't have a microwave, then roast them in the oven for about 10 minutes at 200°C/400°F (180°C fan/gas 6).
- Set them aside to cool. Meanwhile, in a pan, sauté the mushrooms and garlic in a little olive oil (and bacon, if using) for a couple of minutes on medium heat until cooked.
- Slice off the cooled mini pumpkin tops and scoop out the seeds (either discard or toast the seeds later with salt), keeping the tender flesh. This leaves a hollow cavity to fill.
- Take the mushroom mixture off the heat, adding all the other ingredients (crème fraîche, walnuts and half the cheese) and stuff the mixture into each mini pumpkin cavity.(At this point, you can set them aside in advance preparation and simply finish them off in the oven before serving.)
- Keeping the tops aside for decoration only, place each stuffed pumpkin in a baking dish. Top with the rest of the grated cheese and place under the grill for 5-10 minutes or until golden brown and toasted.
Notes
Serve with with a sprinkle of chopped fresh parsley (see more ideas in fresh herbs). Delicious on their own as a vegetarian side dish or add the bacon and serve with chicken or meat.
Seasoning: smoked paprika is a great alternative to bacon, but switch it out with nutmeg which complements the mushrooms and cheese.
For vegans: simply replace the cheese and crème fraîche with cooked quinoa or rice/wild rice and add extra nuts (e.g. pecans, peanuts) for a no-turkey Thanksgiving or Christmas dish.
Nutrition
Calories: 264kcal
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