It’s just 4 days before Christmas, so I should give you a recipe that can be used for the holiday dinners or lunches, one that’s suitable for babies over 6 months old, that everyone can eat no matter their diet or allergies, that’s impressive, and also incredibly tasty. So, my suggestion for this year is the vegan trahanas-stuffed pumpkin, with farmer’s trahanas by Mama Irene. Does it smell like Christmas or is it just me?

What we will need

Pumpkins. I used small pumpkins from my father’s garden which are very tasty and easy to manage. With the dosages below, you can stuff about 5 pumpkins, but it depends on their size. Alternatively, you might be able to stuff one single large pumpkin, but you’ll need to cook it for more time.
Farmer’s trahanas by Mama Irene. Grated by hand, without added salt, nutritious, fermented only with fresh hand-picked vegetables (carrots, zucchini, Florina peppers, parsley). The farmer’s trahanas can be found in mamairenepasta.gr (and you can get 10% off your purchase with the code “LITTLEHANDS”) and it’s perfect for our little friends, while it’s also vegan and belongs to the company’s “happy kids” collection. I need to note here that all pasta products from Mama Irene are handmade, made in Greece, and are made with social responsibility through their #pastaforamission charity initiative, which has the objective of empowering children’s institutions by starting with their meals. With all your purchases through mamairenepasta.gr, part of the earnings fills the fund they’ve created to support institutions or organizations for children in need. You can read more here.
Vegetables. Onions, leeks, carrots, garlic.
Cranberries. Dried and sugar free, of course. They’re very festive, just like the raisins that you can use instead of them.
Pine nuts. You can skip them, but it goes well with the rest.
Rosemary. It can be fresh or dried, and I love it all the same. It’ll need to be chopped.
Spices. Cinnamon and ginger.
Olive oil.

Tips

Cooking time always depends on your oven, and the size of the vegetables, so check often during cooking.
When you stuff the pumpkins, you’ll need them to be quite moist, and when the result gets out of the oven, it will also need to be quite juicy (as you’ll see it in the pictures). If you need to, add more water.
For children under the age of one, you can skip the pine nuts, or break them in smaller pieces.
Adjust the spices according to your needs.
The result will be tastier if you use some kind of broth instead of just water.
You need to close the pumpkins up before baking them so that the stuffing doesn’t dry up.
Of course, instead of stuffed pumpkins, you can make the stuffing by itself, in a pot. You’ll need to cook the trahanas in the same way for 5–10 more minutes, stirring continuously to avoid it sticking to the pot.

More recipes

Special κοτόσουπα με λαχανικά και ζυμαρικά

250 g farmer’s trahanas Mama Irene Pasta

5 small pumpkins

1 tbsp olive oil

1 red onion, chopped

1 small leek (the white part), chopped

1 clove of garlic, chopped

1 carrot, grated

45 g pine nuts

60 g dried cranberries or raisins

1 tbsp dried rosemary, chopped (optional)

1 tsp Ceylon cinnamon

1 pinch ginger powder

salt (for kids over the age of one)

pepper

Preheat the oven at 180°C, set to fan.

Cut the pumpkins in half and remove the seeds and fibers.

Spread 3 Tbsp. olive oil with a brush on the inside of the pumpkins.

Place them on a large baking sheet and bake them for about 45 minutes, depending on their size, until soft on the inside.

When they’re ready, remove them from the oven and let them cool.

Remove part of their flesh carefully with a spoon.

Then, get ready to prepare the stuffing.

In a wide pot or a large frying pan, heat 2 Tbsp. of olive oil and sauté the chopped onion, the garlic, and the leek, until the onion becomes transparent.

Add the pine nuts, the cranberries, the grated carrot, and the spices, and sauté for 1 minute.

Add the trahanas, the salt, and pepper, and mix.

Start adding water little by little and mix continuously for about 4–5 minutes.

While it’s still juicy, remove from the heat, add the pumpkin flesh you removed, and mix well.

Fill the bottom half of the pumpkins using a spoon, cover them with the top half, and tie with a string to avoid turning or opening.

Put the baking sheet in a preheated oven at 180°C and bake for 10 more minutes.

Serve while hot.

Ingredients