Stuffed pumpkin with kale and almond butter sauce
 
PREP
COOK
TOTAL
 
A festive, stuffed butternut pumpkin for the holidays or one of those evenings at which you'd just like to treat yourself.
Portionen / Serves: 3-4 servings
Zutaten / Ingredients
for the pumkin (200°C / 392°F for 60-80 minutes)
  • 1 medium sized butternut pumpkin (~ 1,5 -2kg)
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 30ml olive oil
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 2-3 twigs of rosemary
  • salt & pepper
for the stuffing
  • 3-4 hands full of kale (~300g)
  • 30ml olive oil
  • 2-3 tbsp maple syrup (or honey)
  • 1 tbsp hot mustard
  • 20ml apple vinegar
  • some salt
  • 30g dried tomatoes (favourably in oil)
  • 2 hands full of roasted pecan nuts
for the almond butter sauce
  • 200ml vegetable broth
  • 4 tbsp almond butter
  • 1 dash of apple vinegar (or lemon juice)
  • 1 tbsp nutmeg
  • 1 tbsp margarine
Zubereitung / Instructions
for the pumpkin
  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C / 392°Fand cover a tray with baking paper.
  2. Halve the pumpkin and remove the seeds. With a sharp knife cut both ways diagonally into the pumpkin flesh. The cuts shall be deep, but not too deep to injure the outer skin.
  3. Mince two cloves of garlic and add them to a bowl with olive oil, smoked paprika, salt and pepper.
  4. With a brush or your hands spread the marinade evenly on both pumpkin halves. Whatever is left over can be poured into the scraped out part of the pumpkin. Add the rosemary twigs lastly.
  5. On a baking tray put the pumpkin into the oven to roast it for 60-80 minutes until soft. From time to time you can spoon the leftover olive oil onto the drier parts of the pumpkin.
  6. After about 45 minutes the pumpkin should be already half way soft and you may want to spoon out the soft parts of the flesh (and leave it in the pumpkin). This will speed up the further roasting process.
for the stuffing
  1. While the pumpkin is roasting you can prepare the stuffing.
  2. Rinse the kale in cold water and knead it thoroughly with your hands. Remove the leaves from the hard stems and let them drain in a sieve.
  3. Mix oil, vinegar, mustard, maple syrup and salt in a big bowl to a dressing. Bit by bit add the kale and knead the dressing in the leaves. It's easiest if you just use your hands for this.
  4. Roast the pecan nuts without oil in a pan. Let the tomatoes drain from excess oil on a paper towel and cut them into small pieces.
  5. Take the soft and roasted pumpkin out of the oven and turn if off. Now add the kale, tomatoes and pecan nuts evenly into both pumpkin pieces and put it into the oven with the remaining heat while you prepare the almond butter sauce.
for the sauce
  1. In a pot bring the broth and almond butter to a boil slowly. Once it simmers add a little margarine, a dash of apple vinegar and – if necessary – some salt and let the sauce reduce on medium heat. If your sauce does not seem to get thick enough add a teaspoon of starch solved in some warm water.
  2. Remove the pumpkin from the oven and serve it on a plate (maybe on a bed of kale). I recommend creamy mashed potatoes and crisp green beans as sides.
Recipe by Purple Avocado at https://purpleavocado.de/en/stuffed-pumpkin-kale-pecan-almond-butter-sauce/