Mini Hokkaido vegetarian is simply gorgeous! And delicous. And tastes like a golden october day, sunny, warm and with oriental flavours. The preparation is more than easy and you’ll need about one hour. The four components are going to be prepared one by one and than put togehter at the big finale. The pumpkin made in the oven has a sweet taste, so we invented a slightly acid filling, light and crispy. Really worth to try!

Ingredients for 2 mini hokkaido pumpkins = 2 persons (it will be enough “leftover” filling for a third pumpkin)

2 mini hokkaido á 350 gr. each

300 gr. mangold

4 grated carrots

1 big acid apple

2 medium size onions

130 gr. couscous

200 ml creamy plain yogurt 3,5% fat

50 gr. raisins

50 gr. walnuts

fresh parsley or fresh coriander

1 lemon

1/2 ts ginger

1/2 ts coriander

1/2 ts cumin

Sambal Olek or chili, if you like it picante

olive oil, salt, black pepper

Lemon yogurt with fresh herbs

Mix the creamy yogurt with a bit of fresh lemon juice, lemon peel and the fine chopped parsley or coriander (or both). Put the lemon yogurt aside.

Couscous

This couscous is not going to be sticky! Put the grains into a mid size pot. Add one soup spoon olive oil, a bit of frech lemon juice, a bit of salt and black pepper and stir it. Boil water and pour it over the grains. Important: the water shouldn’t be higher than half of your fingertip from your pointer finger over the grains! Close the lid and let it all brew there for 5 minutes. Put the couscous aside.

Mini hokkaidos

Wash the pumpkins. Cut a little slice from above, that they are stable. You’ll need a good knife. Than cut the lid off and hollow out all the grains and fibers with a spoon, so that the pumpkins are all clean and nice. Rub them in – and outside with olive oil and important: salt them on the inside! If not, they would taste flavourless. Pre-heat th oven on 200º and put the pumpkins on baking paper and the grill. Baking time: 30 minutes. Attention: before you put the pumpkins in the oven, prepare the veggies: wash and cut the carrots, cut the mangolds and keep the stick out, chop the onions and the walnuts (gross).

Filling

Swaet the chopped onions in olive oil and a bit of salt for 8 minutes, until they get transparent. Add the grated carrots with a bit of salt and let them cook for 5 minutes, stir it all slowly. Add the mangold and cook it for 3 more minutes. Now put the chopped apple (not too small), raisins, walnuts in the pan, add the species, coriander, cumin and ginger and give them 3 – 4 more minuts cooking time.

A few minutes before the pumpkins are ready (they need 30 minutes in the oven), add the couscous and give it al the last kick with some sambal olek, a bit of lemon juice, salt and pepper. Stir it all very well!

Take the pumpkins out of the oven, fill them with this delicious filling, give it a big spoon of the lemon yogurt on top, lid on top and ready to enjoy. So good!

Many thanks to Rita Penica from the Biosphäre, Berlin. She is a great cooker and remembered this recipe together with me after more than two years, when I ate it first in the little restaurant. Enjoy everybody the mini hokkaido vegetarian!