Serves 2
LAST year I made a tasty Samhain dish that some of you might like to try for yourselves. It’s very quick and easy to make, too, and depending where you live the only real expense is the Swiss cheese. Believe me, this is one of the most delicious things that you’ll ever taste and it’s very filling.
Ingredients:
2 small pumpkins
300g Gruyère cheese, grated
700-800 ml double cream
Grated / ground nutmeg
Two knobs of butter
Salt and ground black pepper
Instructions:
1. Slice the tops off the pumpkins about two-thirds of the way up and retain the lids. Do not throw them away!
2. Scoop out the seeds and fibre from the pumpkins until they are hollow.
3. Fill the empty cavities with enough grated Gruyère to fill around one-third.
4. Pour in the double cream until the cavities are two-thirds full.
5. Add a sprinkle of grated nutmeg, a little salt and plenty of black pepper.
6. Add a knob of butter to each pumpkin.
7. Replace the lids so that the pumpkins are whole again.
8. Put them side by side on a baking tray and place them in a hot oven.
9. Cook them at 190°C / Gas Mark 5 for 45 minutes. When the time is up, test them by removing the lids and prodding the orange flesh on the inside. They should be nice and tender, but don’t worry if the skin is slightly burnt or if they are beginning to sag. Sometimes they do actually collapse, but to some extent this is expected and is not a problem. To prevent this from happening, however, remove them from the oven as soon as they are ready.
10. Serve the whole pumpkins on large plates or bowls and use spoons to scoop out the flesh and cheesy liquid. The Gruyère is like a soup and comes out in deliciously messy strings. Alternatively, simply empty the contents straight into bowls. Either way is fine.
Happy Samhain from the Celtic heartlands of northern Portugal!
