Pumpkin 🎃 With a Hearty Filling | Baked Pumpkin With Meat and Vegetables

An amazingly beautiful, delicious, and juicy dish! Baked pumpkin 🎃 stuffed with pork and vegetables, seasoned with aromatic herbs. Served with a slightly tangy garlic and cheese sauce (also included in the recipe). The wow effect is guaranteed — it looks absolutely stunning! It’s a very hearty meal — one pumpkin with sauce is enough to feed two adults.

You can watch the full step-by-step recipe in a 5-minute video here 👉 https://youtu.be/ragrPFhzFok

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4 small Hokkaido pumpkins

Filling:

Pork neck — 1.3 lbs (600 g)

Sweet bell peppers — 3 medium

Celery stalks — 2

Onion shallots — 2 medium

Tomatoes — 3 medium

Tomato paste — 1 cup (8.8 oz / 250 g)

Thyme — 1 tsp

Basil — 1 tsp

Fresh parsley — to taste

Salt — to taste

Garlic — 3 cloves

Butter — 7 tbsp (3.5 oz / 100 g)

Sunflower oil — for brushing the pumpkins

Sauce:

Grated cheese — 1 cup (3.5 oz / 100 g)

Sour cream (or Greek yogurt, or Crème fraîche) — 1 cup (8.8 oz / 250 ml)

Garlic — 2 cloves

Salt — to taste

Fresh dill — 1 bunch (about ½ cup chopped)

Making the filling

Chop the celery and parsley. Roughly cut the bell pepper and tomatoes. Cut the meat into cubes.

Roughly chop the shallots and sauté them in a lightly oiled pan until they turn nicely golden.

Place the chopped tomatoes, bell pepper, celery, parsley, meat, and sautéed shallots into a large bowl. Add salt, tomato paste, basil, and thyme. Mix well.

Pumpkin preparation

Carefully cut off the “lid” of the pumpkin (see photo — or watch the video 👉 https://youtu.be/ragrPFhzFok) without damaging it. To do this, insert a short knife about 2 inches (5 cm) away from the pumpkin’s stem. Cut in a circle around the stem, making sure to slice through the thick skin all the way around. Once the cut is complete, gently pull on the stem — the “lid” should come off easily.

Then, use a large spoon to scoop out the pulp and seeds from inside the pumpkin. Remove the seeds from the “lid” as well.

Take the butter and cut it into small cubes. If it’s very cold, let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes to soften slightly.

Take the garlic (3 cloves for 4 pumpkins), press it through a garlic press (or finely chop it), and add it to the butter. Mash everything together into a smooth paste and mix well.

Using a small spoon, spread this garlic-butter mixture inside each pumpkin.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Brush each pumpkin on the outside with sunflower or olive oil (don’t brush the lids yet to avoid getting messy) and place the pumpkins on the baking sheet.

If you don’t have a pastry brush on hand, you can use a paper napkin instead

Fill the pumpkins with the stuffing, but don’t fill them to the top — the “lid” should fit snugly.

Cover the pumpkins with their “lids.” Now brush the lids with sunflower (or olive) oil.

Baking

Place in the oven at 200°C (400°F), using the top-and-bottom heat setting. Bake until the pumpkin becomes soft — about 1 to 1.5 hours (we baked ours for about 1.5 hours, but the time may vary depending on your oven).

Make the sauce

It’s best to prepare it no earlier than 30 minutes before the pumpkins are ready.

Place the grated cheese in a saucepan. Add sour cream (or substitute with crème fraîche, Greek yogurt).

Put it on low heat and stir constantly until the cheese melts and the mixture becomes mostly smooth.

Then, pour it into a deep (non-plastic) bowl. Add chopped dill and minced garlic (you can use a garlic press or finely chop it with a knife). Season with salt to taste and stir well.

Serve the pumpkin hot, drizzle with plenty of sauce, and enjoy! ❤️🌟