Red Curry Quinoa Stuffed Pumpkin

I have outdone myself!!

 

Since the advent of fall, I?ve seen stuffed pumpkins all over the net.  Each time I read one of these recipes, I thought the idea was super duper cute and fun.

 

I also mistakenly believed these recipes required a level of precision above my culinary expertise.

 

But I was wrong!

I?m not so sure why I was scared of stuffed pumpkins!  Really, baking a pumpkin is not much different than baking an acorn squash. 

 

If you can?t tell already, I am proud of this recipe.  The idea for this sweet and spicy dish came to me on Sunday night, and I?d been itching to try it since. 

 

Last night, I finally dug some thai-inspired ingredients from my cabinets and decided to give it a whirl.  It is rare my free-handed cooking goes off without a hitch, but I must say, the gods were smiling down on me yesterday.

 

I present to you?

 

Red Curry Quinoa Stuffed Pumpkin

Ingredients:

1 Small Sugar Pumpkin

2 TBSP Red Curry Paste

2 cayenne peppers

2 tsp crushed red pepper

1 TBSP chopped basil

~6 whole leaves fresh basil (for garnish)

1 1/2 cups quinoa

1 cup water

2 cups vegetable broth (I used College Inn Thai Coconut Curry Broth)

2 TBSP sesame oil

1 4-oz can whole water chestnuts, drained

2 green peppers, sliced

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the ?hat? off your pumpkin.  Remove seeds and pulp.
Place pumpkin face down on a cookie sheet and cook in oven for about 60 minutes. (Cooking time will vary by pumpkin size.)
While pumpkin is baking, bring two cups of vegetable stock and one cup of water to boil on the stove.  Add 1.5 cups rinsed quinoa and simmer for about 8 minutes.  Stir intermittently.

After about 8 minutes (when quinoa has absorbed almost, all of the water/broth), add 2 tablespoons red curry paste to the pot.*  Stir until paste and quinoa are combined and water/broth is completely absorbed.

Cover pot of quinoa and remove from burner.
Coat a skillet with sesame oil. Add sliced green peppers and water chestnuts.  Add cayenne peppers, basil, and crushed red pepper.*  Sauté at medium heat until vegetables are desired consistency. (I like mine slightly crispy.)

Combine veggies with pot of quinoa.
Once pumpkin is complete, remove from oven and stuff with the Red Curry Quinoa mixture.

Garnish with fresh basil.

 

Enjoy each taste of spicy Red Curry Quinoa with a bit of sweet pumpkin.

 

 

*Note- You may wish to add more or less spice to this recipe depending on your own taste buds. 

 

This recipe yields enough quinoa to stuff about 2, 6-inch-wide pumpkins.  I froze the leftover half of the quinoa for next week?s lunches.

And in case you were wondering, I was not able to eat the entire stuffed pumpkin in one meal.  In fact, I?m eating last night?s leftovers for dinner as I?m typing this up!

 

And just like last night, I plan on eating one of these for dessert.

This is the best candy bar I?ve ever eaten.

Never mind that it costs $2.50 at Earthfare!!

P.S. Absolutely nothing about it is healthy.

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