A spiced stuffed pumpkin recipe perfect for the winter months. Created for the AKOJO community by food scientist and seasonal eating enthusiast Aude Vuilli.
Filled with spiced wild rice, mushrooms and juicy raisins, this stuffed pumpkin recipe makes an impressive centrepiece for an autumnal or winter dinner party. Featuring seasonal pumpkins and infused with warming spices, the recipe is bursting with flavour and will add a real wow factor to any table.
The recipe has been created for AKOJO by the wonderful Aude Vuilli. Born in Switzerland, Aude Vuilli is a food scientist and vertical farming engineer with a passion for sustainable and local eating. You can find out more about Aude in our community series interview here.
The recipe is the second in a series of three. See here for the first recipe (hint: it has a crunch!) and be sure to keep you eyes peeled for the third and final recipe.
In the meantime, bon appétit!
FESTIVE WINTER SLAW
Ingredients (for 4-6 people):
- 4 to 6 small pumpkin
- 400g of mushrooms (here shitake)
- 300g of wild rice
- 1 red onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 mandarin
- ½ a lemon
- 3 tbsp. of raisins
For the spices:
- ½ tsp. of cloves
- ½ tsp. of coriander seeds
- 1 star anise
- 2 green cardamom pods
- ¼ tsp. of fennel seeds
- ¼ tsp. of grated nutmeg
- 1 whole mace
- 1 stick of cinnamon
- 1 black cardamom
- 1 dry red chilli
- salt and pepper
STEP 1
Prepare the raisins. In a bowl, press the mandarin and half the lemon. Add the raisins with the stick of cinnamon. Let it sit on the side.
STEP 2
Prepare the spice mix. In a mortar and pestle, add the seeds of the green cardamom pods, the cloves, the coriander seeds, the star anise, the fennel seeds, the dry red chilli, and a few seeds of the black cardamom and grind all of the species in a fine powder. Add the grated nutmeg.
STEP 3
Chop the red onion finely. Put it aside. Cut the mushrooms in small pieces. Put it aside.
STEP 4
Prepare the rice. Wash the rice under cold water until the water becomes clear. Pour the rice in a saucepan with double the amount of water. Cook on low heat with the lid on until the rice is al dente.
STEP 5
While the rice is cooking, prepare the onions, mushrooms and spice mixture. Add some olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Once hot, add the mix of spices. Once the spices start to bubble, add the red onion and the 2 cloves of garlic (pressed). Stir until soft and add the mushrooms. Let it cook until nicely golden, around 10 minutes. Pour some red wine in the pan, let it evaporate. Once the rice is cooked, add the rice to the pan as well as the raisins with the mandarin and lemon juice. Mix well, cook for 2 more minutes and remove from the heat. Let it cool.
STEP 6
Wash the pumpkin under cold water. Take a sharp knife and cut off a lid from each pumpkin. Use a tablespoon to scoop out the seeds and the inside flesh. (Keep the seeds, they are great for roasting with salt and butter in the oven and add it to any soups or salad).
STEP 7
Heat the oven to 180°C. Use a tablespoon to add the rice mixture into the pumpkin. Place the pumpkins’ lid back on top. Place them on a baking tray and bake them in the oven for around 50 minutes (this may be longer if you are using bigger pumpkins). Check the pumpkins after 30 minutes. If they start to become brown, you may want to cover them with a foil.
Tip: This dish can easily be prepared one or two days in advance and kept in the fridge until the day of serving. The day of serving, cook the pumpkin in the oven.
This recipe features beautiful artisan-made kitchenware from our platform, including intricate hand-carved utensils by Qäsa Qäsa, a vegetable embroidered tea towel from KISANY Living Linens, and a grained wooden bowl by Raw Label. Discover these unique pieces and more in our curated kitchenware edit.
