Stuffed butternut pumpkin

A whole butternut pumpkin gets stuffed with a medley of vegetables, lentils, nuts and herbs. Just like a roast, it's then trussed and slow-roasted until gorgeously tender and served cut into thick slices. Give this a try at your next meat-free banquet!

Stuffed butternut pumpkin Credit: Nagi Maehashi

• serves

  7

• prep

  25 minutes

• cook

  1:30 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

"The idea for this dish arose when I thought how cool it would be to create an epic 'roast' centrepiece, fit for special occasions that everyone can enjoy, including vegans."

Ingredients

• 1.8–2 kg butternut pumpkin
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• ¾ tsp cooking salt
• Yoghurt sauce (recipe below), to serve

Stuffing

• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 100 g white button mushrooms, finely chopped
• ⅓ cup (75 g) dried puy lentils
• ½ cup (70 g) dried cranberries (or dried sour cherries)
• ½ tsp each fresh rosemary and thyme leaves, finely chopped
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ⅓ cup (85 ml) pinot noir red wine (or other dry red wine, or extra vegetable stock)
• ¾ cup (185 ml) low-salt vegetable stock
• 1¼ cups (180 g) cooked brown rice 
• 60 g (1 tightly packed cup) roughly chopped baby spinach, kale or other leafy green
• ¼ cup (40 g) finely chopped pistachio nuts 
• ¼ cup (40 g) finely chopped roasted unsalted cashews (see note)
• ¼ cup (40 g) finely chopped roasted almonds (see note)
• ¾ tsp cooking salt
• ½ tsp black pepper

Yoghurt sauce

• 1½ cups yoghurt sauce
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1½ tbsp olive oil
• ¼ tsp salt 

Cooling time: 30 minutes

Instructions

1. For the yoghurt sauce, mix ingredients in a bowl and then set aside in the fridge for 30 minutes or until required.
2. Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced).
3. Cut the pumpkin in half lengthways (see note). Scoop the seeds out using a spoon and discard or save for another purpose. Rub the pumpkin flesh and skin with oil, then sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt.
4. Bake on a baking tray for 1 hour, or until the centre can be easily pierced with a knife with little resistance (a bit on the firm side is okay). Remove from the oven and cool for 15 minutes.
5. For the stuffing, heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook the garlic, onion and mushrooms for 4 minutes. Add the lentils, cranberries, rosemary, thyme, nutmeg, wine and stock. Simmer on low heat for 30 minutes, or until the liquid is all absorbed (tilt the saucepan to check). Turn the stove off. Stir in the rice and set aside for 10 minutes, then stir in the spinach, nuts, salt and pepper.
6. Scoop out the pumpkin flesh from each half (reserve), leaving a 1.75 cm thick wall of flesh. Don't make the wall too thin or it might compromise the structural integrity of your roast.
7. Use a tea towel to squeeze the excess water out of the reserved flesh, by gathering it up and wringing firmly. To do this, I bundle half the flesh in the tea towel like a money bag, twisting the top as tightly as I can to squeeze out the water. Once done, the flesh should resemble a soft ball of dough. Stir all the reserved flesh into the stuffing mix.
8. Sprinkle the flesh of the scooped-out pumpkin shell with ¼ teaspoon salt. Pile the stuffing into one half of the pumpkin, overfilling it so it mounds up. Place the other half of the pumpkin on top – the stuffing should fill the lid. Tie the two halves together by trussing with kitchen string (as pictured left) every 3 cm to hold the pumpkin in a nice shape.
9. Bake for 40 minutes until the filling is hot in the middle (check with a knife).
10. Remove the pumpkin from the oven and rest for 10 minutes.
11. Cut the pumpkin into 2.5 cm thick slices and place on a plate. Serve with the yoghurt sauce.

Notes

• I find the easiest way to cut a butternut in half is with a big sturdy knife. With the pumpkin lying on its side, hold it steady, then insert the knife vertically through the top of the pumpkin, in the middle. Then gently bring the knife down towards you to cut through the first half. Rotate and repeat on the other side.

• Cashews can be substituted with more almonds, or almonds can be substituted with more cashews. Macadamias and walnuts are also suitable.

• Leftovers will keep in the fridge for 3 days. They are not suitable for freezing.

Images and recipes from Dinner by Nagi Maehashi, published by Macmillan Australia (RRP $44.99). Photography by Nagi Maehashi.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

"The idea for this dish arose when I thought how cool it would be to create an epic 'roast' centrepiece, fit for special occasions that everyone can enjoy, including vegans."