This dish is simple to prepare but requires a long baking time to soften the pumpkins and allow the flavors to develop.
The recipe in a nutshell:
Fill a chestnut pumpkin with a vegan meat mixture, make a sauce with dried fruits and bake for about two hours. Serve with couscous or white rice.
Start with the pumpkin: cut the pumpkins lengthwise, brush with olive oil and proceed to the filling; Fry onion and garlic, add vegan minced meat, water, spices, and tahini; Fill the pumpkins with the mixture and keep them aside.
In a large skillet, fry sliced onions, add garlic, spices, maple syrup, and lemon juice; Add water and cornstarch, and cook for about ten minutes.
Bring to a boil, lower the heat and cook for about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
Remove from heat, add dried fruit (plums, apricots, and apples) and mix well.
Transfer the sauce to a baking dish that will accommodate the pumpkins comfortably. Arrange the pumpkins on top of the sauce. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for about an hour and a half until the pumpkins soften and turn golden. Serve with couscous or white rice and garnish with toasted almonds and fresh cilantro.
Enjoy, and let me know how it turned out😋❣️
RECIPE
Chestnut Pumpkin With Vegan Minced Meat and Dried Fruit Sauce- 3 Chestnut pumpkins of medium size, washed well, halved lengthwise, and cleaned of seeds
Vegan Minced Meat Mixture
- 300-340 gram vegan minced meat, such as beyond one package
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- ¾ - 1 cup water as needed
- 2 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Ras El Hannut by taste
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- salt and black pepper by taste
- 2 Tablespoon tahini
Dried Fruit Sauce
- 3 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 4 cloves minced garlic by taste
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon allspice powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 anise star
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 2½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon corn starch or tapioca starch diluted in half a cup of water
- 1 Tablespoon maple syrup by taste
- juice from half a lemon
- 1 cup dried apricot
- 1 cup dried plums, pitted
- 1 cup dried apple
For Serving
- Couscous or white rice, toasted sliced almonds, fresh cilantro
- Brush the inside and top of the pumpkins with olive oil and set them aside.
Vegan Minced Meat Mixture
- Fry the onion until translucent, add garlic and fry for a few seconds. Add the vegan minced meat and fry while mixing and separating it for about 2-3 minutes; Add water and spices and cook for about five minutes. Remove from heat, add tahini, and mix, taste, and adjust seasoning if necessary.
- Fill the pumpkins with the vegan meat mixture and set them aside.
Dried Fruit Sauce
- Preheat the oven to 190 Celsius - 374 F
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet or wok and fry the onion until translucent. Add crushed garlic and mix for a few seconds; add spices and mix for a few more seconds; add water, maple syrup, lemon juice, and cornstarch diluted with half a cup of water and mix.
- Bring to a boil, lower the heat and cook for about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
- Remove from heat, add dried fruit and mix.
- Transfer the sauce to a baking dish that will accommodate the pumpkins comfortably. Arrange the pumpkins on top of the sauce.
- Cover the pan with aluminum foil and seal from the sides - bake for about an hour and a half until the pumpkins soften completely. After about forty-five minutes, check the water level and, if necessary, add a little.
- Remove the aluminum cover and bake for 35-45 minutes, until the pumpkins are golden and the sauce is slightly reduced.
For Serving
- Remove the pumpkins from the mold, and transfer the sauce to a separate container. Put a pumpkin on a serving plate and sprinkle chopped cilantro; add white rice or couscous and pour the sauce over it.
- Sprinkle toasted sliced almonds and chopped cilantro on the rice or couscous and serve.
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