Day 7 - Sweet and Sour Pumpkin Side Dish

I am having so much fun looking through all the websites, blogs and recipes that people have been sending me! The possibilities really are endless with pumpkin. I am sure that I will have plenty of recipes to choose from during the 40 days or so I have left until Thanksgiving. I am also pretty amazed at how much I have made with the 5 pumpkins I bought about a week ago for $5!

So tonight's recipe is the first savory pumpkin recipe that I have made (besides the pumpkin seeds.) After sauteing the pumpkin with garlic and olive oil, I was pleasantly surprised at the subtle earthy flavors. I was expecting it to be a lot sweeter like butternut squash. Pumpkin is so commonly seasoned with ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon that I did not even recognize the pumpkin without these flavors. It also had a very nice hearty texture that is different from other squashes.

Adding the Sweet and Sour sauce made this a very unique dish. It was simple but almost elegant.

I found this recipe on pinchmysalt.com The recipe was actually for grilled pumpkin but also had a modification for sauteed. I choose to saute mine and did a few other alterations which I will indicate in the recipe below. You can go to the link if you would like to see her original recipe.

http://pinchmysalt.com/2008/11/24/sweet-and-sour-grilled-pumpkin-recipe/comment-page-1/

Sweet and Sour Pumpkin Side Dish

1 – 1 1/2 pounds sugar pumpkin
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, pressed
kosher salt
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons sliced green onions
1 thinly sliced garlic clove




Cut pumpkin in half and peel it. (Peeling the pumpkin is the only step that is somewhat difficult.) I actually ended up only using half the pumpkin since I was only making it for me and my husband. This quantity was plenty. I made the entire amount of sauce but did not use it all.

Cut pumpkin into 1 inch cubes

Heat skillet to medium high heat. Add olive oil and warm for 1-2 minutes.




I use the Pampered Chef Garlic Press to press the fresh garlic right into the skillet. You don't even need to peel it first! Stir about 1 minute.

Add pumpkin and a generous pinch of salt, saute until tender (about 7 minutes.)




In a small bowl, mix vinegar and sugar. Drizzle sweet and sour sauce over the pumpkin and stir 2-3 minutes.

Add sliced garlic, stir and remove from heat.

Garnish with sliced green onions.