Kent pumpkin stuffed with nuts and herbs

Get

1 Kent pumpkin
Some shallot greens
2-3 chopped medium champignons
Tahini , 2 tbsp
100g macadamia nuts
fresh thyme tips, lemon thyme, marjoram or oregano
1 clove garlic
olive oil
150g cheese for baking, e.g. young gouda, or matured cheddar

Do

Cut pumpkin across in two. Remove the seeds.
Steam or bake the halves until quite soft. Not too soft or it will become unstable. Let it cool down briefly for handling.
Place the halves face up in two baking dishes or in one large one.
Scrape out most of the flesh into a bowl leaving about 1 cm depth above the skin.
Mash the flesh. Add the finely chopped shallots. Grate in the macadamia nuts with a hand grater. Add the chopped thyme.
Add the mushrooms and tahini.
Mix these ingredients together .
Fill the mash into the pumpkin shells.
Mix the crushed garlic with the olive oil and spread it on top.
Top with cheese. 

Bake at 130°C on the second shelf of the oven for 30 minutes, then increase the temperature to 180°C for 10 minutes until they are golden.
Tip This dish is also delicious without the pumpkin and with more mushrooms instead.
Leave off the cheese and it is vegan.

Butternut Pumpkin Soup

Get
2 butternut pumpkin
8 carrots
10 yellow button squash
4 cloves of garlic 
Some ginger
1 bunch of coriander
Some parsley
4 chillies
6 peppercorns
Olive oil
Stock

Do
Peel and gut pumpkin. Put 1 l of filtered water in a pot and add the pumpkin offcuts. Add the chilies and peppercorn. Peel the carrots, wash the parsley and add to the stock.

Heat some oil in the soup pot. Fry the sliced carrots and ginger. Cut the pumpkin into large chunks (keeping 1/4) and add. Cover all vegetables with the hot (sieved) stock and simmer for 40 min. The cut the remaining pumpkin into mouth-size pieces and the red chili into thin strips. Cut each yellow button squash into 8 parts.  Simmer for another 10 - 20 min. Sprinkle with chopped coriander.

Some people use coconut milk or put the lot through the mixer. It is nice to not have machine noise or tins in the kitchen.

Sweet potato carrot turmeric soup

Baked macadamia pumpkin

Get
1 butternut pumpkin, (Cucurbita moschata) about 1 kg
1 small brown onion
100g macadamia nuts
fresh thyme tips or lemon thyme or both
150g cheese for baking, e.g. young gouda, or low-salt elbo style cheese with vegetarian enzymes (”Nimbin”), cheddar

Do
Cut pumpkin lengthwise in two. Remove the seeds.
Steam the halves until quite soft for about 30 minutes depending on the size. Not too soft or it will become unstable. Let it cool down briefly for handling.
Place the halves face up in two baking dishes or in one large one.
Scrape out most of the flesh into a bowl leaving about 1 cm depth above the skin.
Mash the flesh. Add the finely chopped onion. Grate in the macadamia nuts with a hand grater. Add the chopped thyme. Mix all ingredients together.
Fill the mash into the pumpkin shells.
Top with cheese.

Bake at 190°C on the second shelf of the oven for 30 - 40 minutes until they are golden.

Tip
The amount of ingredients depends on the size of the pumpkin. The above amounts are for a small butternut, but should be increased proportionally for larger pumpkins. This recipe is also delicious with other types of pumpkin, especially if they are fleshy rather than watery. It is important that the flesh is cooked soft.
Images: 1. Pumpkin, not Butternut and 2. unshelled macadamia nuts