I tend to go a bit silly and ga-ga over three things – baby animal photos, my dorky puppy andย miniatureย fruits and vegetables. I grew delicious mini watermelons and honeydew this past summer and attempted mini cauliflower and cabbage. One of my favourite lettuces to grow in a mini cos hearting variety and my guinea pigs love the quick-growing mini round Paris Market carrots. All these varieties produce smaller or mini fruit compared with regular plants, with many suitable for raised bed and container gardening… and they are all just so darn cute!
It was for those reasons that I started 3 types of minature pumpkins before summer in my raised beds (Delicated, Jack Be Little and Golden Nugget), but the summer heat quickly killed off all three plants (though I did find this little fella while turning my garden beds). The farmer’s have had a lot more success than me however in this hot weather and I’ve been able to find Golden Nugget pumpkins everywhere in the past month.
These round hand-sized pumpkins are just made for stuffed pumpkin recipes. The flesh isn’t as sweet as other varieties so their flavour is really enhanced by a delicious filling. Cut off the top, scoop out the pulp and seeds before baking, then fill to the brim and bake again! Make sure to save those prolific seeds too; wash away all the pulp and then dry before toasting or roasting with any myriad of flavour combos. This is a no-waste pumpkin.
The other bonus of these cute little Golden Nugget pumpkins is the thin, edible skin. After filling with this mixture of quinoa, corn and parmesan cheese (or savoury yeast flakes for a dairy-free, vegan meal), your whole dinner is served in a bowl you can eat! Who wouldn’t go a little ga-ga over that?
- 4 Golden Nugget Pumpkins
- 1 tsp + 1 tbsp olive oil, ghee, butter or coconut oil
- 1 medium brown onion, diced
- 2 medium carrots, scrubbed and chopped
- 1 cup white quinoa grains, washed thoroughly and drained
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 large zucchini, washed and chopped
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 1 cup chopped spinach leaves, loosely packed
- 1 cup corn fresh or frozen corn kernels
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan (use Savoury Yeast Flakes/Nutritional Yeast for Vegan/Dairy free meal)
- Preheat oven to 220C. Line two baking trays with baking paper. Cut tops off pumpkins, place cut side up on one baking tray.
- Pour ½ tsp olive oil/butter in each pumpkin and swirl or brush with pastry brush to coat inside. Place on second baking tray and bake with tops for 30 minutes.
- After baking time turn remove tray with tops and put aside to cool. Turn pumpkins upside down on tray and bake for a further 20min.
- In a deep saucepan saute onion and carrots in remaining oil/butter until softened, about 5 minutes. Add quinoa, garlic and zucchini and stir for 2 minutes then add chicken stock. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer for 10-15 minutes until quinoa is cooked and soft and water is absorbed. Add spinach and cook over low heat until wilted. Take saucepan off heat.
- Add ¾ cup corn kernels to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until blended with some chunky pieces remaining. Add processed corn, remaining corn kernels and Parmesan cheese to quinoa mixture and stir well to combine,
- Invert pumpkins again on baking tray and fill with quinoa mixture. Return to the oven for 10 minutes and then serve immediately.
Comments 28
I haven’t come across such little pumpkins before. They make great bowls!
Author
They do make lovely little bowls Alicia! If you can’t find these pumpkins then I think Acorn squash or Butternut pumpkin would be the next best options. They are both nice and sweet and would taste amazing stuffed with this cheesy, corn combo.
Are you kidding me right now?!? This recipe should have been in my hands so long ago. I LOVE quinoa and pumpkin!!! I have a squash in my fridge so I may attempt this with that so I can have it tonight! I am so glad that you shared it with me! I can’t WAIT to try this one out. I am vegetarian but totally can do this with veg stock! Thank you for sharing!
Author
Haha, glad you love it Heather. It’s so delicious, I recommend you cook it pronto ๐
I should have actually added vegetable stock into the ingredients list, glad you mentioned it so I can clear that up now!
What cute little pumpkins, and what a delicious filling! I’m always looking for new ways to use quinoa, and the ingredients in this dish are wonderfully wholesome. Thank you for sharing this post with the Hearth and Soul hop.
Author
Thanks for having me over at the Hearth and Soul hop April and thanks for the comment! This is a really yummy way to use quinoa, I’m always collecting new ideas on how to use it too ๐
Such a lovely pumpkin recipe!! I love the presentation of this, perfect for those Autumn months. I also go ga-ga for baby animal pics, I google them all the time lol
Author
This would be a lovely warming recipe for Autumn Natalie, it’s very comforting ๐ Glad I’m not the only softy too, I’ve got a pic of a baby seal grinning at me on my desktop at the moment awwww!
What a delicious idea! I love the presentation of this dish!
Author
Thanks for the comment Alea, it’s almost too pretty to eat right?
I totally forgot it’s fall season in Australia haha! We won’t have pumpkins again for another few months ๐ I love how you can eat out of the pumpkin, that’s so neat! It’s a great idea for a dinner party and I love quinoa -anything. Great job!!
Author
I think we’re lucky Rose that we always seem to have pumpkin available here. While I only get them for a few months from the garden (if at all, grumble, grumble) I don’t ever remember them not being at the supermarket.
Thanks for the comment Rose ๐ Oh, these would be lovely for a dinner party, what a good idea!
I’ve stuffed many squash in my time, but it’s never looked quite like this.,. Yowza! That filling must be so creamy and savory, I wish I could take a forkful right through the computer screen.
Author
The filling is so, so creamy and delicious Hannah, I could easily eat this over and over during the colder months.
What would you say your favourite squash filling would be? I know you would make something fabulous!
Yum! These look delicious. I didn’t know you could eat the skin though! What have I been doing all this time ;P
Author
Thanks for the comment Kristy ๐ For this particular pumpkin, yes the skin is edible, but not for all of them! I’m sure you’ve noticed how many pumpkins have really thick skin, for those it’s not even worth trying and they are better off in the compost bin or worm farm. If you like to peel your skin off before cooking pumpkin you can also bake the peels on a low temperature to make pumpkin peel chips.
Oh yes, you wouldn’t want to eat the skin off a butternut pumpkin! I’ve never actually made anything with golden nugget pumpkins because I wasn’t sure how to use them (or that you could eat the skin!) but I’m going to give this a try ๐
Author
Let me know how you go Kristy! If you can find a yummy chilli or lamb based stuffing recipe that would go down a treat too, these pumpkins need a strong, savory filling to draw out their sweetness. ๐
Ally! These little pumpkins are ADORABLE! And look tasty to boot! i had no idea you could get pumpkins in the Spring – I’ve only ever seen them in our CSA during Autumn. I guess it all depends where you live. Either way, I’m pinning so I can make them when pie pumpkins come into season next fall.
thank you so much for sharing your post with us at the Wednesday Fresh Foods Link Up! I hope to see you again this week with more seasonal & real food posts! xo, kristy
Author
Thanks for the comment Kristy, and for hosting the Wednesday Fresh Foods Link Up ๐ It seems to be a very Australian thing to have locally grown pumpkins available year-round, I’ve heard from several people in the last week that you can only enjoy pumpkins in autumn in most of the northern hemisphere. I don’t know how I would survive, I think I eat fresh pumpkin in some form at least one a week! When you can, I hope you really enjoy the recipe – these stuffed pumpkins are to die for ๐
Your recipe is awesome and thank you so much for sharing it at the table with Full Plate Thursday.
Hope to see you again soon!
Miz Helen
Author
Thanks for the comment Miz Helen and thank you even more for hosting over at Full Plate Thursday!
These are so beautiful! The pumpkins make such gorgeous bowls; what a healthy dish! Thank you for sharing it at Whole Foods Friday!
Hugs,
Megan
Author
Thanks for the comment and for hosting at Whole Foods Friday Megan! They are a great little pumpkin bowl aren’t they? So gorgeous!
YUMMY, my little Amish market by my house has these little pumpkins in the fall! YUM Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! ๐
Really looking forward to seeing what you bring to the party this week! It starts Thursday evening!
Cindy from vegetarianmamma.com
Author
Oh that sounds wonderful Cindy! Thank you for the pinning and tweeting love, you’ll see me at the party for sure ๐
Just a quick note, that I featured this recipe as one of my favorites this week! Thanks for linking up and looking forward to see what you share this week ๐ Cindy
Pingback: #glutenfreefridays #35 is live! Come share your #glutenfree recipes! - Vegetarian Mamma