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Published on Friday, October 22, 2021


By Melissa Pette
 
Halloween is around the corner, my dear witches and wizards!  I'm sure most of us love candy, pumpkins and spooky parties on the darkest night of the year. Well... maybe the midnight parties not this year.
 
This is the time when many expats are making plans for cooking delicious pumpkin donuts, pumpkin spice muffins, or pumpkin sweetbread... and the drinks. Yummy!

I bet many of you are fondly remembering those days as kids when you couldn’t wait for the first Fall day to go to the nearest apple and pumpkin picking farm.
 
In Costa Rica, fresh pumpkins are in supermarkets all year round. How wonderful it is to live in a country where you find fresh vegetables all year!
 
You have no excuse not to enjoy a delicious spooky pumpkin recipe. Today we will fix the pumpkin in a different and fun way. Your  Halloween party table will look spooktacular with this beautiful baked pumpkin!

So, Let's go to the kitchen!





 
 The ingredients for 8-10 people are:
 
 • 1 pumpkin of 3 kilos, preferably with a green dark thick crust.
 
 • 1 cup sunflower oil.
 
 • 1 teaspoon of salt.
 
 • 1 teaspoon of white pepper.
 
 • 1 teaspoon of garlic powder.
 
 • 1 tablespoon of butter.
 
 • Aluminum foil.
 
 • 1 cup that grated gouda cheese.
 
 • 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese ( or 6 slices of American-type processed cheese). If you are a cheese lover, like me, you can add half a cup more of each.
 
I cook this recipe with gouda cheese and American-type cheddar processed cheese. If you want to substitute any of the two kinds of cheese, I recommend keeping American processed cheddar cheese because that is essential to achieve a bright orange color. You can substitute the gouda for mozzarella.
 
First, with a sharp knife, slice a circle around the "top" of the pumpkin about 3 centimeters from the stem creating a circular opening with a pumpkin lid. Think of the top of a pot.
 
Then, with a fork, scrape and scoop out all the pumpkin “meat,” including the seeds. Make sure that only the crust remains without any content. Do not leave the crust too thin to prevent it from breaking.


Put oil in your hand and spread the entire interior of the pumpkin. Add the salt to the pumpkin. Carefully turn side to side the pumpkin so the salt spreads inside.

With two forks, mash the pumpkin “meat” until pureed. Remember to remove the seeds before mashing. Add the cheese, the butter, the garlic and the pepper. Mix well.
 
Heat the oven to 350ºF (or 180ºC). On a baking sheet, place aluminum foil and cover the entire surface. Place the pumpkin without the top and bake for 25 minutes. Do not bake the carved pumpkin.
 
Then, take the baked pumpkin out of the oven. Being very careful to avoid burning yourself, add the pumpkin puree. Bake the pumpkin again for about 20 more minutes, until the cheese is melted.
 
You can make this recipe an hour before serving. The idea is to serve the pumpkin hot.
 
I spread the puree on bread slices. But it works great with sweet or salty breadsticks, nacho-chips, celery sticks or carrot sticks. This is a finger-licking delicious recipe! I promise!

You are all invited to share your recipes with a horizontal photo of the dish by emailing food@amcostarica.com. More delightful recipes can be found on the AM Costa Rica Food & Good Eating page.
 
Pura Vida!







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