After the Hokkaido mutated into a trendy vegetable in recent years, pumpkin soup celebrated its culinary comeback. Whether with cream or coconut milk, carrots or ginger - one new creation quickly followed the other. In and of itself, there's nothing wrong with that if you like eating soup. Because especially in the wet and cold season, the pumpkin is a real vitamin booster that can strengthen your immune system. But does it really have to be the same soup every year, or are there other ways of processing the orange-red vegetables into a delicious dish? After all, the Hokkaido has the advantage that it is completely edible. So why not save yourself all the snipping and just hollow out and fill the pumpkin? Below you will find two delicious recipe ideas – one with and one without meat.

For the preparation you need the following ingredients: (enough for approx. 4 to 6 people)

Step 1: Cut off the top of the pumpkins and remove the flesh and seeds with a spoon, leaving a rim about two centimeters thick. If you don't need a lid, you can also cut the pumpkins in half. Then brush the inside with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Then the pumpkins, including the lid, go into the 180 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes (depending on how thick the edge is).

Step 2: Meanwhile you can chop the onions and garlic, cut the peppers and carrots into small cubes and heat some oil in a coated pan. First, sauté the garlic with the onions until translucent, then add the diced carrots and peppers until golden brown – then sear the minced meat. If you like, you can also stir pumpkin pulp into the mixture.

Step 3: Season the minced meat mixture with tomato paste, cumin, marjoram, thyme, paprika powder, salt and pepper as you like. Then deglaze the pumpkin filling with red wine and let it boil down briefly before pouring in the cream. Take the pan off the stove and add the sour cream to the mix. Take the pumpkins out of the oven and fill them up so that the lid still fits and sprinkle the gratin cheese over them. Then bake them for another 30 minutes.

For the vegetarian version you need the following ingredients: (enough for about 4 to 6 people)

cumin seeds

The coriander seeds

Step 1: The pumpkins are cut in the same way as in the previous recipe, hollowed out and pre-cooked in the oven on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Until these can be filled, cook the rice in salted water until it is soft – or if you like, it is a bit firm to the bite. In the meantime you can cut the onions into small cubes, grate the carrots finely and roughly dice the peppers.

Step 2: Pour the chickpeas into a colander and let them drain briefly. Meanwhile, you can finely grind the cumin and coriander seeds in a mortar. Then pour some olive oil into a coated pan, sauté the onions in it until translucent and add the crushed seeds and some paprika powder. Fry everything briefly, then do the same with the carrots and peppers.

Step 3: Salt the contents of the pan before folding in the chickpeas and rice. Finally, mix the cashew nuts into the filling so that they remain nice and crunchy. Taste everything again before pouring the mixture into the pumpkins that are fresh out of the oven. Now bake the stuffed vegetables again for at least 15 minutes (depending on how big the pumpkins are).

So that the rice filling does not taste too dry, you can serve a fresh herb dip with the dish (which theoretically also goes well with the minced meat filling). You only need a few ingredients for this:

Put all the ingredients – except for the herbs – in a small bowl and mix them together until you get a creamy consistency. Finally, stir the herbs into the dip and taste it.

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