Is there any word but CUTE to describe little baby pumpkins, no more than 3″ wide? When I saw these in the field I asked our farmer if they were edible and if we could harvest them at that size. She said she’d never tried and we cut one open right there to see if the flesh was ripe, and it was! I loved the shape of these babies and immediately thought stuffing them was the way to go to preserve the beauty of their shape.
I was inspired to make this vegan recipe by a Thai kabocha squash soup I used to love-it had a creamy coconut base and greens. Kabocha squash is an orange fleshed Japanese pumpkin. So we decided to serve this pumpkin dish with a green curry sauce and white jasmine rice.
If you can’t find baby pumpkins this small, just use the smallest ones you can find.
You can also skip the pumpkins and make the curry sauce, rice and vegetables as a stand alone dish.
Stuffed Baby Pumpkin
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Rachel Carr
Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 4-6 baby pumpkins (about 3″- 4″ in diameter), peeled
For the pumpkin filling:
- 1 cup shiitake mushrooms
- 2 carrots, sliced
- ½ onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery
- 2 cups kale or other cooking greens
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1″ ginger, peeled an grated
- ½ cup green curry sauce (see recipe below)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 Tablespoons coconut oil (optional-you can cook the veggies in a little oil)
For the green curry sauce:
- 1 bunch radish tops
- 1 bunch scallions, greens only and save the white bottoms
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 Tablespoon grated ginger
- 2 stems basil
- 1 stalk lemon grass, fresh (if you can't find it, you can use green curry powder, or just skip it altogether)
- 5 cloves garlic
- 3 limes, zest and juice
- ¼ cup agave (or 2 dates pitted)
- ¼ cup tamari
- 2 16 oz.cans coconut milk, full fat
For the jasmine rice
- 2½ cups Thai jasmine rice
- 3 cups water
- Place rice in a small saucepan. Rinse rice by running cold water over two or three times to cover and pouring the water out. This rids the rice of excess starch powder and broken rice which makes the cooked rice mushy and sticky. Add just enough water to cover the top of the rice by ½-inch (approximately 3 cups).
- A convenient trick is to place your middle finger, just touching the top of the rice in the pan. The water level should be just below the first joint of your finger, from the tip. No measuring needed.
- Cover the pot with the lid. Place over medium to medium high heat. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to low. Simmer, covered, another 10 minutes, until the water has completely evaporated.
- Turn off the burner and allow rice to sit, covered, for at least another 5 minutes.
Instructions
For the pumpkin:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Carefully cut the top of the pumpkin off, preserving the stem. Scoop out the inside of the pumpkin. Toss the baby pumpkins in a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast on an oiled baking sheet in the oven for 30-60 minutes, or until fork tender. (Larger pumpkins take longer to cook) Turn upside down once during the baking time.
For the pumpkin filling:
- In a saute pan, heat the coconut oil and sauté the onions, carrots, celery and mushrooms until tender. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute. Add the green curry sauce and kale and cook until the kale wilts and the green curry makes the mixture a little creamy.
- To assemble the pumpkins, fill each of them with some of the sautéed vegetables and warm in the oven for 5 minutes before serving.
- Serve on top of the rice with green curry around the plate or bowl. Garnish with cilantro and mint.
For the green curry sauce:
- Blend thoroughly and strain. Set aside until ready to use.
For the rice:
- Place rice in a small saucepan. Rinse rice by running cold water over two or three times to cover and pouring the water out. This rids the rice of excess starch powder and broken rice which makes the cooked rice mushy and sticky. Add just enough water to cover the top of the rice by ½-inch (approximately 3 cups).
- A convenient trick is to place your middle finger, just touching the top of the rice in the pan. The water level should be just below the first joint of your finger, from the tip. No measuring needed.
- Cover the pot with the lid. Place over medium to medium high heat. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to low. Simmer, covered, another 10 minutes, until the water has completely evaporated.
- Turn off the burner and allow rice to sit, covered, for at least another 5 minutes.
2
Hooray! It is almost pumpkin season! I LOVE the idea of serving it with green curry sauce, pumpkin and thai flavours are best buds. Yum!
I know! Pumpkin is one of my favorite ingredients!