pumpkin bil hashweh (sweet stuffed pumpkin)
Hashweh in Arabic means “stuffing,” but in classic Middle Eastern fashion, this stuffing is packed enough to be its own dish, let alone a side dish, or even something stuffed inside another thing. Hashweh is typically made using rice, ground beef or lamb, spices, and pine nuts, but there are so many different kinds – this recipe is sweet, omitting the meat and subbing in dried fruits, honey and more nuts. And it’s stuffed inside a whole pumpkin and baked for almost two hours in the oven, making it a great Fall dish. I’m just drooling thinking about the smell while it’s baking – do you think there are pumpkin hashweh candles out there?
INGREDIENTS
1 small pumpkin (approx. 9” in diameter)
1/2 cup uncooked basmati rice
1/2 cup medjool dates, chopped
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup almonds, chopped
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
Note: you can swap in any nuts or dried fruit you like!
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Using a colander, rinse the basmati rice under cold water until the water runs clear and not cloudy; this removes some of the starch in the rice, helping the rice cook more evenly. In a medium saucepan, boil 1 cup of water over medium-high heat. Once boiling, add in the rice, and reduce heat to low. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until the water is absorbed.
While the rice is cooking, rinse the exterior of the pumpkin and pat dry. Create a hole, about 4” in diameter, around the stem and set the top aside. Scrape out the insides and seeds. Pro-tip: rinse your pumpkin seeds and remove any pumpkin innards, pat dry, toss with 2 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tsp. salt and roast on a baking sheet on 425ºF for 15 minutes for perfectly roasted pumpkin seeds.
Combine the cooked rice with the dried fruit, nuts, honey, cinnamon and 2 tbsp. of butter, mixing thoroughly (the warm rice will melt the butter). Stuff the pumpkin with the rice mixture; top with the remaining 2 tbsp. of butter, cutting it into two-1 tbsp. pads. Cover the hole with the pumpkin top. Place the pumpkin on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 2 hours, or until a knife easily pierces into the side of the pumpkin (depending on your oven, this may take up to 2 and 1/2 hours).
The pumpkin is best enjoyed when sliced into quarters, lengthwise; this way, each person can get a bit of pumpkin and a bit of stuffing!
store: in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
diet: vegetarian, gluten-free; vegan & dairy-free if swapping vegan butter.
eat it with: roasted chicken and labneh, vanilla ice cream as dessert, or as a grain bowl with pomegranate seeds, tahini, and your protein of choice (I like jammy eggs!).
