Tuesday Night Vego – Pumpkin and wild rice pilaf

P is on a diet. His weight tends to drift up over the year, so come January I put him on a crazy-strict diet and he loses it all in a month.  This year might be a bit more difficult because he needs to lose about 15 kilos. Luckily he’s well on his way, and 6 kilos down after a week.

So Linda’s tuesday night vegetarian challenge really couldn’t come at a better time. In reality we’ve been eating vegetarian most nights of the week just to get through all the garden produce, and it’s great to have vego ideas coming from many directions.

Tonight (like every night) pumpkin was a mandatory ingredient. I’ve also been craving wild rice, so I invented this little concoction for dinner:

Pumpkin and Wild Rice Pilaf

• 1 Golden Nugget pumpkin (or 400g equivalent)
• 50 grams Wild Rice
• 200 grams Basmati Rice, rinsed in cold water and set aside to dry
• 1 onion
• Handful toasted almonds, chopped roughly
• Large handful of sultanas/raisins
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cloves
• 2 tablespoons orange marmalade (or other chutney or fruit jam)
• 1 cup stock
• 1 tablespoon madras curry paste (or equivalent powdered)
• A dash of ground allspice (optional)
• Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, then put the wild rice into some cold water and bring to the boil. The wild rice will take about 30 minutes to cook, so get it on early.

Peel, de-seed and roughly diced the pumpkin. Add a drizzle of olive oil, a crushed clove of garlic and a pinch of salt, then spread on an oven tray and place in the oven.

Finely diced the onion, then add to a large frying pan with the second clove of garlic, crushed and a small amount of oil.

Soften the onion and garlic on medium heat, then add the curry paste and allspice and cook for another minute or so until fragrant.

Add the rinsed basmati rice, and fry on medium heat for one minute before adding the bay leaves, cloves and stock.

Mix the rice and stock, then add the marmalade and sultanas, stirring to mix thoroughly. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a low simmer and put on the lid.

Simmer with the lid on for 15 minutes, then turn off the heat without opening the lid. The rice will continue to steam until the wild rice and pumpkin are ready.

Once the wild rice is ready, the pumpkin should be soft and starting to brown at the edges.

Open the pan, fluff up the rice with a fork, then add the (strained) wild rice and roasted pumpkin.

Remove the bay leaves and the cloves (if you can find them).

Serve in bowls and top with chopped almonds.