serves
4-6
prep
20 minutes
cook
2:45 hours
difficulty
Mid
serves
4-6
people
preparation
20
minutes
cooking
2:45
hours
difficulty
Mid
level
Ingredients
- 1 large Japanese pumpkin
Stuffing
- 1 tbsp (20 ml) extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for outside of pumpkin
- 100 g Swiss brown mushrooms, diced
- 2 brown onions, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, diced
- ½ bunch oregano
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 3 sprigs rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 bunch parsley, chopped
- 1 bunch English spinach
- 100 g plant-based butter, at room temperature
- 150 g panko breadcrumbs (or stale bread, crumbed)
- 150 g almonds, crushed
- 50 g dried cranberries
Gravy
- 30 ml grapeseed oil
- 2 brown onions, diced
- 100 g Swiss brown mushrooms, diced
- 1 medium carrot, diced
- 1 celery stick, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, diced
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 thyme sprigs
- 2 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour
- ½ cup red wine
- 500 ml vegetable stock or water
- 1 tbsp Vegemite
- 1 tbsp raspberry jam
Resting time: 45 minutes.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- For the stuffing: Place a large pan on medium heat. Add oil, then add garlic, onions, mushrooms, oregano, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf. Cook until the onion is translucent and the mushrooms are slightly brown.
- Meanwhile, gently cut the top off the pumpkin, about 2.5 cm (2 inches) from the stem. Keeping the lid to the side, use a large spoon to scoop out the cavity of all the seeds and stringy bits, placing them in the compost (you can also toast the seeds to eat later). Scoop out any soft flesh still inside, chop up and place it in the mushroom stuffing mixture.
- Add spinach and parsley to the pan with the mushrooms stuffing mixture, season with salt and pepper, and cook for another few minutes. Add vegan butter and breadcrumbs and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Remove the bay leaf from the stuffing. Transfer stuffing to a bowl and stir through almonds and cranberries.
- Place stuffing mixture in the cavity of the pumpkin, add the lid of the pumpkin on top, then rub the outside with a tablespoon of olive oil. Put it on a baking tray lined with baking paper to catch all the drips and cook for 2-3 hours, or until the pumpkin is soft and dark in colour, and a skewer easily goes in and comes out of the side of the pumpkin. (Check a few times, because if you overcook it, it could collapse.)
- While the pumpkin is cooking, make the gravy.
- Add oil to a heavy-based pan on medium heat, add the diced onion and mushroom and fry until golden brown. You are aiming for rich golden colour to add the flavour. Add carrot and cook until starting to brown. Add the celery and herbs and fry for 2 more minutes.
- Add the flour to the mixture and stir until there is no flour visible. Pour in the wine and cook off for a few minutes, and then pour in the stock. Cook the mixture for 15 minutes to reduce and thicken the gravy slightly.
- Finally, add the Vegemite and jam and cook for a further 5 minutes. Strain into a gravy boat or bowl for serving.
- Once the pumpkin has been cooked, take it out of the oven and let it cool for 45 minutes before serving.
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.
