Pumpkin and meat Italian-style for hungry wolves

Do you remember how in the story of Cipollino the hungry wolves were looking greedily at the round, fat pumpkin? But even fairy wolves can by no means be called vegetarians. It turns out that in Italy they often cook pumpkin with meat.

Pumpkin and meat Italian for hungry wolves

We will need

Meat beef, pork or halved , tomatoes – cherry or any other tomatoes, onions, olive oil, mix of nuts and seeds for Italian cuisine pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, pine nuts or pine nuts , red bell pepper, garlic, hot black pepper, mix of dried Italian herbs – rosemary, thyme, oregano, a big bunch of arugula or basil. The proportions are by eye, depending on the size of the pumpkin.

Cooking

Wash the pumpkin, cut off the “lid” and scrape out all the seeds. Cut meat and onion into large cubes and fry in olive oil. At the end of frying add coarsely chopped garlic, turn off, put chopped bell peppers and tomatoes I took already chopped, ready-made, in winter they taste better than fresh, but some “plastic” tomatoes . Season it with salt and pepper, add spices and spread the mixture in the pumpkin. Cover the top of the pumpkin with foil and bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes. Use a toothpick to check that the pumpkin is ready – it should be soft. At the end of baking remove the foil and grease the top with melted butter or olive oil. Add fresh arugula or basil when serving. In olive oil, fry the nut mixture and add about a teaspoon to each portion.