Stuffed Pumpkins, a seasonal delight !

Since we have opened up our shop a lot of people have been asking us for suggestions or recipe ideas so we have decided to give the people what they want and start a recipe blog !

So summer is a distant memory, gone are those summer evenings, replaced with -6 (MINUS SIX!!) degrees this morning. The farm is all ready to hibernate for the winter but there are some sturdy crops still going strong and these delicious winter crops will be the stars of our first recipe today - Kale and Swiss Chard:

Both Kale and Swiss Chard are nutritional superstars due to the amounts of vitamins A, K, B6 and C, calcium, potassium, copper and manganese that they contain which are vital for in particular supporting healthy bone structure, as well as giving our immune systems much needed boosts to deal with the cold

Wintergreens filled pumpkins

Ingredients: // Prep. time: 25 minutes. Cooking time: 25 minutes

- Swiss Chard

- Kale

- Red Onion

- Garlic

- Pumpkin (I have used a small "baby boo" variety here but hokkaido, butternut, rondini are all great for stuffing)

- Lemon

- Walnuts

- Salt and Pepper for seasoning

- Olive Oil

- Buckwheat or any other grain

- (optional) parmesan or feta cheese

Method:

1. Put buckwheat or other grains to cook. Once cooked set aside to cool.

2. Prepare all your ingredients: cut onions and garlic finely; cut Kale (using the leaves and the smaller stems while discarding the harder larger stems); and Swiss Chard (removes leaves and cut stems into 1cm long pieces); crack walnuts and prepare pumpkin. For the "baby boo" variety here I simply cut a hole out of the top, removed this like a little hat (set aside for later) and scooped out all the seeds using a spoon. (You can also simply cut in half and scoop out seeds before placing the 2 pieces back together at the cooking stage later.)

3. In a frying pan add garlic and onion with a splash of olive oil. Once translucent add the stems of Swiss Chard for a couple of minutes before adding leaves of Kale and Swiss chard. Let these fry up on a medium heat for a couple of minutes to lightly cook.

4. In a large bowl add lightly cooked greens, buckwheat, walnuts, cheese, salt and pepper. Squeeze juice of a lemon over and mix using your hands.

5. Stuff your squashes with the filling and replace "little hat" back on top. Place in the oven for 25 minutes at 200 °C or until you can easily insert knife through the pumpkin.

Served with a little mushroom sauce, this is a perfect seasonal dish to warm you up and to eat seasonal! Happy cooking !