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Published on Friday, October 13,
2023
Halloween
is almost here my dear witches and
wizards!
In
Costa Rica, there is an important
influence from U.S. culture, so
Halloween was an extended
celebration at the time.
Many expats are making plans for cooking delicious pumpkin donuts, pumpkin spice muffins or pumpkin sweetbread... and pumpkin-flavored drinks. Yummy!
I bet many of you are fondly remembering those days as kids' when you couldn’t wait for the first "Fall week" to go apple and pumpkin picking.
In the "Pura Vida" country, fresh pumpkins are in season at supermarkets all year round. It is wonderful to live in a country where you find fresh vegetables all year!
There
are no excuses not to enjoy a
delicious spooky pumpkin recipe.
The easy-to-find 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 of grated gouda cheese.
• 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese (or 6 slices of American-type processed cheese).
If you like cheese a lot, like me, then add half a cup more of each.
Also,
feel free to substitute the
gouda cheese and American cheddar
processed cheese. But, keep in mind
it's the American processed cheddar
cheese that is essential to achieve a
bright orange color.
First, with a sharp knife, slice a circle around the "top" off 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 rub the entire interior of the pumpkin. Add salt to the pumpkin. Carefully turn the pumpkin side to side so the salt spreads inside.
With two
forks, mash the pumpkin “meat” until
pureed. Remember to remove the seeds
before mashing. Add the cheese,
butter, garlic and pepper. Mix well.
This is the pumpkin puree.
Heat the oven to 180ºC (or 350ºF). 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 out pumpkin lid.
Then,
take the baked pumpkin out of the
oven. Being very careful to avoid
burning yourself, add the pumpkin
puree.
Try making 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 bread sticks, nacho chips, celery sticks or carrot sticks. It is a finger-licking dish to satisfy a crowd.
Have a Pura Vida Halloween!
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