Stuffed Hokkaido pumpkin "Bomb Surprise"

Ü surprise, surprise! ... Today's a recipe with my favorite buddy Hokkaido. Can you still see your pumpkin or can you now escape a tired yawn? In fact, it is totally unclear when i can ever stop cooking with pumpkin. There must be a natural border there in time. Maybe my appetite for pumpkin flies away when the first lilies of the valley are peeking out of the ground and the birds are chirping? If not, he may just beautify the spring as a cold shell or come as a salad with a picnic in the Schanzenpark. So.

Today, however, he still wins our hearts (or stomachs?) As a hot, deliciously filled bomb in bright orange. Especially convenient: He prepares very well, then bakes in the oven quite modestly and alone to himself to have his big surprise appearance at the table BANG! . A real show talent we have in the bowl!

He is very flexible on his esteemed audience: For 2 persons a small Hokkaido little bob is enough, for a party you just take a lot of little ones or the big ones You can find it and it fits in your oven.

Oh yes, you can of course eat the bowl.

Curtain up!

And this is how it works for a great pumpkin appearance:

For 2 people Rinse a small, for 4 people a medium Hokkaido pumpkin thoroughly. Cut off a small piece from the bottom so that the pumpkin gets a flat surface. Then cut off a lid from the top and put aside for later. Carefully scrap the cores and straw with a spoon and discard. There should be no threads left. Then rub the inside with salt and pepper .

For the stuffing * 1 onion and 2 garlic cloves > peel and finely chop. Fry in a pot on medium heat in 1 tablespoon butter . Add 250g of TK leaf spinach and steam until the spinach is cooked and free from liquid. Season with salt , pepper and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg . Allow to cool slightly.

* The filling is calculated for a small pumpkin of about 15 cm in diameter. For larger specimens, simply double or triple the ingredients. If something of the filling does not fit in the pumpkin, that's no problem (see tip below).

1/2 cup cottage cheese with 1 egg, 1/2 tsp sweet paprika , 1 tbsp breadcrumbs and 1 pinch of chilli . Add the spinach and 3 tablespoons of finely grated Parmesan . If necessary, season with salt and pepper .

Pour the spinach mixture into the pumpkin and make sure that there are no air bubbles. Fill ovenproof one finger with water and place the pumpkin in it. Then place the pumpkin top and bake at 175 degrees in the oven for about 45 - 60 minutes . At the end of the cooking time, check with a small knife in an inconspicuous place, if the pumpkin is soft enough. In case of doubt, leave something longer in the oven, because half-cooked pumpkin is no fun.Then cut the little bomb in front of the amazed guests (or your loved one) like a cake and pull the columns apart. Then everyone can help themselves.

Hint: If something is left over from the filling (which always happens to me) , you just bake delicious spinach cakes out of it. Grease oven-proof pudding or muffin cups lightly and pour in the spinach mixture. Bake with the pumpkin in the oven. The cakes are a great healthy snack or can be great with appetizer salad.

There's nothing left: Who wants the last piece?