a short trip with hokkaido

It’s autumn now & it’s pumpkin time. So I started working with my favorite pumpkin – the Hokkaido pumpkin. I like this pumpkin very much because of its size which fits for 2-4 servings, its delicate flavor and the easy way of preparation because you don’t need any peeling – all will get soft at the end.

This is a basic recipe – so it’s a very short post.

I started with cleaning the pumpkin thoroughly with water because there’s no peeling – all will end on the plate.

Next step is cutting the pumpkin into 2 halves. Afterwards grab a spoon and spoon out resp. scratch out the seeds and the mushy fibers around the seeds. Discard all of it.

Now we can cut the pumpkin in slices. The slices march onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment. A Hokkaido pumpkin will fill just one baking tray.

Now let’s mix some olive oil with spices …

I used a ready-to-use spice mix made of cinnamon, coriander, caraway, nutmeg, ginger & cloves – all ground. You may also add some salt & pepper … The result is rather autumn/winter like flavor … Another option I like is a mix of coriander, cumin, mild or hot curry, turmeric & ginger – all ground. This is a more Asian flavor. Both are fine with a Hokkaido pumpkin.

With a brush the oil-spice-mix will be distributed all over the pumpkin slices – no need to turn the slices.

Then the baking tray with the pumpkin slices marches in the oven. Start with heating up to about 175° C fan (no preheating!) and let the session go on for about 25 min. Afterwards the pumpkin slices are soft – be careful that they don’t break when transferring from the baking tray to a plate or any type of container.

What did we do with the Hokkaido pumpkin?
We had some of the pumpkin for a dinner with German-type meatballs & an intense tomato sauce. Then I used some of the slices for a sauce accompanying tortellini … and finally I added some slices to a quiche (the recipe will follow soon on this blog!).

Enjoy!