Food & Wine

Stuffed spiced butternut pumpkin recipe

butternut pumpkin scored

Blanche Clark

Posted October 31, 2022

Stuffed, spiced butternut pumpkin is easy to make, and it's sure to impress vegetarians and meat eaters alike. Here's how to make this healthy dish.

Australians have embraced the trend towards eating more plant-based foods, which means you might be catering for a vegetarian or vegan this Christmas. An easy solution is to get a “tofurky” or vegan roast from the supermarket, but why not cook something that even the most committed carnivore can’t resist?

RACV Club Sous Chef Callum Nugent’s stuffed spiced butternut pumpkin recipe is filled with the festive goodness of spices, herbs and dried fruit, and it’s easy to make. Along with sultanas, dates, prunes and apricots, this recipe uses barberries, which are traditionally used in Iranian cooking. Barberries have a lovely tangy, citrus flavour, and are available in Melbourne at specialist food stores. Search online to find a store close to you. Otherwise, use cranberries instead.

Callum says many people have trouble cutting a whole pumpkin, and he offers this tip: “I find it is easiest when you cut off the top and bottom of the pumpkin so that it becomes is nice and steady.

Stuffed spiced butternut pumpkin recipe

Serves

4 to 6

Time to make

60 minutes

Difficulty

Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 large butternut pumpkin
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Olive oil
  • 50g all spice
  • 20g cinnamon
  • 20g ginger

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 180°C
  2. Cut your pumpkin in half, length ways.
  3. Remove the seeds from the pumpkin with a spoon.
  4. Combine spices, salt and pepper and oil together in a bowl.
  5. Score your pumpkin (see above). Place the halves flesh side down, and bake for 10 minutes.
  6. Take out of the oven, and let cool for 10 minutes.
  7. Once cool, rub in the spice and oil mix. Make sure it gets into the grooves of the pumpkin.
  8. Return to the oven and bake until tender, about 30 minutes.

Stuffing recipe

Ingredients

  • 300g shallots
  • 100g garlic
  • 50g thyme
  • 50g oregano
  • 50g rosemary
  • 50g sultanas
  • 50g dried prunes
  • 50g dried apricot
  • 50g dried dates
  • 50g dried barberries
  • 20g maple syrup
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Method

  1. Place all ingredients into a food processor and pulse
    until the mixture is the consistency of breadcrumbs.
  2. Once the pumpkin is baked and cooked, hollow out the middle - making sure there is a generous 3cm gap on either side of the well.
  3. Combine the removed pumpkin with the mixture from the food processor.
  4. Season well, and fill the middle of the pumpkin with the stuffing.
  5. Cover with aluminium foil. 
  6. Bake for 25 minutes at 180°C.
  7. Serve hot.

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