Pumpkin stew

May 8, 2009 at 1:00 am | Tags: , , , , ,

pumpkin-stew

I made this pumpkin stew because I had a block of pumpkin sitting in my fridge for close to a week, and I didn’t know what to do with it. I bought it out of habit, since all winter long I’d been making pumpkin soup — nearly a batch a week — but as the weather becomes warmer, the thought of soup isn’t always as appealing as it was a few months ago. Furthermore, I could have made it into a pumpkin bread, which was once my signature dish, prompting a former roommate to ask with bewilderment, “do you also make lettuce cake?” You see, vegetables aren’t usually served as dessert in Israel. But for some reason, my sweet tooth wasn’t interested this time around.

However, I did want some solid food for dinner, particularly something that could be eaten with rice. This pumpkin stew has a Middle Eastern-style, tomato-pepper based sauce, and makes for a good meal. It also keeps well in the fridge, and is an easy dinner on the go, or after a long evening of class — just add rice or another grain of choice, and eat.

The pumpkin is cooked only until it begins to become soft, which leaves its pleasant, stringy texture intact. There’s something nice about breaking off forkfuls of gourd fibers.

For about four servings:

About 1 kilo pumpkin
1 onion
1 red pepper
1-2 carrots (purple ones add nice color)
4-6 garlic cloves
4-6 tomatoes
pinch of celery/celery leaves
olive oil for frying

Spices:
2 tablespoons paprika
6 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
salt

Chop the onions and saute in olive oil in a thick-bottomed pot. Chop and add the peppers, carrots and garlic. When vegetables are soft, add the tomatoes, about 2 cups water and the spices. Cover and let simmer until the tomatoes are soft enough to fall apart.

Add the pumpkin chunks, cover the pot and let simmer until the pumpkin is soft enough to be pierced by a fork, but not mushy.

Serve atop rice.


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4 Comments »

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  1. This was amazing…And the leftovers were even better! Bookmarked this site and have been sharing your site with a few friends!

    Comment by niki — October 19, 2009 #

  2. Hey Niki, glad you liked the pumpkin stew, thanks for stopping by!

    Comment by Liz — October 22, 2009 #

  3. AHhhh i was one of the friends that Niki shared this with…. made it just last night and LOVE it! i actually misplaced my Bay Leaves and Cumin so i forgot to add them :( boooo and i threw in some yam and chickpeas (ideas from Niki) and i cooked it in my slow cooker for about 50 minutes on meadium-low!! DELICIOUS!!!!!! mm mmmmmmmmm i can’t wait to have left-overs tonight!!

    Comment by Danica — October 26, 2009 #

  4. Awesome! I’m all in favor of altering recipes, I can never follow anything precisely to the word …

    Comment by Liz — October 29, 2009 #

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