Festive Pumpkins

Recipe -- Festive Pumpkins

 

Pumpkins are a wonderful accompaniment for many dishes. Sweet, tasty, colourful and packed with nutrition they are a healthy, low fat alternative to many over-rich cheesy side dishes. This recipe for stuffed Festive Pumpkins combines yoghurt, sultanas and pine nuts to give an exotic Middle Eastern flavour.

Ingredients

  • 6 small – medium pumpkins
  • 8 silver beet leaves
  • 200 g (about 1 cup) plain yoghurt
  • 60 g sultanas
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 30 g pine nuts, toasted
  • 4 slices fresh bread, crusts removed, crumbled
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Bake pumpkins whole in the oven at 180ºC for 45 min to 1 hour until soft enough to easily scoop out flesh. Scoop out the flesh and mash it, keeping about 1cm of flesh still in the pumpkin shell so that it remains intact.

Wash the silver beet thoroughly and chop it finely. Place it in a saucepan or bowl, add boiling water to cover and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Drain well.

Combine silver beet with mashed pumpkin, yoghurt, sultanas, garlic, pine nuts bread crumbs and salt and pepper.

Spoon into pumpkin shells and place the shells on a greased baking tray.

If you’d like you can sprinkle with grated cheese and paprika.

Bake in moderate oven (180°C – 350°F) 20-25 minutes