I am aware that pumpkin stew might not be the ideal meal to cook in a college environment. For one, if you live in a dorm, kitchen resources are limited (and carrying a pumpkin from Safeway up Rural Road does not sound fun). Two, it costs about $20 for the ingredients (especially if you don’t have flour or spices) and that can be expensive on a college budget.
However, it would be a great activity to do with the parents when you go home for Thanksgiving. It’s always a hit with my family during Thanksgiving dinner. Just have your parents keep a pumpkin relatively cool in your home (in case grocery stores stop selling them after October), and it should last until Thanksgiving for the feast.
Since it's October, I played scary movies in the background to get in the mood while I prepared it. Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS:
Vegetables
1 medium sized pumpkin
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 onions, diced
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 carrots, sliced
1 tomato, chopped
1 zucchini, sliced
Other Stuff
½ Tsp. parsley
1 bay leaf
2-3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 stick of butter
1 lb. stew beef (yes, that's the name)
¼ c. flour
1 can garbanzo beans/chickpeas
2 cans beef broth
First, clean off the pumpkin with a wet rag. Make a lid and gore out the pumpkin guts until it is clean and empty inside. I always like to save the seeds to make toasted pumpkin seeds. To make those, rinse the seeds well, salt them up on a cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes (stir them around halfway).
Now that your pumpkin’s clean, rub the insides with salt and pepper. Fill a casserole dish with about ¼ inch of water and put the pumpkin upside down in the casserole dish (lid of pumpkin next to it). Bake the pumpkin in the oven for an hour at 350 degrees.
While the pumpkin bakes, it’s time to cut up some vegetables. First, chop up the onion and the garlic. Then prepare the tomato, potatoes, zucchini and carrots. Put the stew beef in a pot and dredge it in flour (the best way to do this is by using your hands to mix in the meat with the flour), then add the garlic, onion and olive oil. Mix it all together and let it simmer uncovered for 10-20 minutes, depending on how tender you want your beef.
Then, add everything else — the zucchini, potatoes, tomato, carrots, spices, beans — and wait for it to boil. Cover this and let the whole thing simmer for 1-2 hours, again depending on how much time you have and how tender you want it.
When the pumpkin's out of the oven, wait about 10 minutes for it to cool, then flip it upright and cover the inside with butter. You don’t have to use the whole stick but I think it’s easiest to just grab the stick and rub it on the inside.
Once the stew is ready, pour or spoon it into the pumpkin. People can scrape the softened pumpkin off the inner shell into their bowl of stew.
To top off the experience, I also always pick up a loaf of Italian bread to slice and dip in my bowl of stew. Truly, it doesn't get much better than that.
Reach the cook at hhuskins@asu.edu
