Stuffed Pumpkin and Roasted Chestnuts with Cornbread

Roasted or boiled, in November chestnuts are kings! In addition to being the month in which Saint Martin's Day is celebrated and the Magustos tradition is perpetuated, at this time, it is common to use this fruit in a wide variety of recipes. So, today we bring you a delicious double suggestion: Roasted pumpkin stuffed with lentils, mushrooms and chestnuts and Roasted chestnuts with bread.

Is your mouth watering already? Follow our Nutritionist's instructions and recreate the two dishes we propose. You will see how easy they are to make.

Baked pumpkin stuffed with lentils, mushrooms and chestnuts

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash

1 big onion

2 spoons of olive oil

4 garlic cloves

1 celery stalk

2 carrots

250g dried lentils

125 g coarsely chopped fresh brown mushrooms

50 g mixed dried mushrooms

250 g chopped roasted chestnuts

50 g of walnuts

50 g parmesan cheese

2 spoons of fresh thyme

Pepper to taste

Preparation mode:

Start by preheating the oven to 180°C.

Soak the lentils in a large bowl with cold water and, in another, the dried mushroom mixture. Then remove the seeds from the pumpkin and cut the pulp diagonally. Place both halves of the vegetable on baking sheets, rub them with olive oil and sprinkle with pepper. Place in the oven and bake for 60 to 90 minutes, or until soft on the inside and caramelized on the outside.

To make the stuffing mix finely chopped onion, garlic, celery and carrot with olive oil, and gently brown over low heat for about 10 minutes, until soft. Then, add the fresh mushrooms and dried mushrooms (which have been soaking) to this preparation and, about 5-6 minutes later, the soaked lentils. Let them cook until they are cooked, add the chopped walnuts and chestnuts, mix all the elements and cook for another 1 minute.

Stuff the pumpkin halves, which in the meantime have been roasted, with the previous preparation, and place the Parmesan cheese shavings and some fresh thyme leaves on top. Place in the oven for approximately 10 minutes. When finished, season with a little more fresh thyme.

Roasted Chestnuts with Cornbread

Ingredients:

300 g of cornbread

400 g roasted chestnuts

6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

2 shallots

1 large stalk of celery

2 garlic cloves

400 g of minced meat

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

2 tablespoons of fresh parsley

1 full tablespoon of fresh rosemary leaves

4 large eggs

Ingredients for Chicken Broth:

1 chicken leg

1 celery stalk

1 shallot

3 cloves of garlic

½ leek

Pepper mix q.s.

Preparation mode:

Start by preparing the chicken broth. To do this, place a chicken leg in a pan and, on top of it, 1 celery stalk, 1 shallot, 3 garlic cloves, ½ leek and season with the pepper mixture. Cover with water and bring to a boil for approximately 1 hour. If necessary, add water.

Preheat the oven to 180 C.

In a pan, put olive oil, shallots, celery and garlic, both finely chopped, and let it brown. Then add the minced meat (you can add meat mixtures: poultry, pork and veal) and cook very well. Then add finely chopped fresh herbs and turn off the heat.

Cut the cornbread into small cubes (approximately 1 cm), place them in a frying pan with a little oil and sauté. Reserve.

In a bowl, beat the eggs and then add the two cups of chicken broth (warm) that you prepared earlier.

In a large bowl, mix the cornbread, minced meat, coarsely chopped roasted chestnuts and the egg mixture. Finally, place the preparation on a ceramic tray and bake for about 20 minutes.

Serve with a green leaf salad and enjoy.