Pickled pumpkin
4 servings
30 minutes
Pickled pumpkin is an original dish of Estonian cuisine where pumpkin serves not only as a vessel but also as part of the flavor composition. This bright, refreshing, and slightly spicy recipe combines the sweetness of pumpkin with the acidity of apples and grapefruit, along with the richness of vegetable garnish. The addition of garlic and red pepper gives the dish a pronounced aroma and spiciness. The fermentation process deepens the flavor. Pickled pumpkin is not only a great snack option but also an interesting addition to a traditional breakfast or lunch. The dish embodies the spirit of folk traditions when vegetables were prepared for winter using natural fermentation processes. This cooking method gives the pumpkin an extraordinary texture and turns it into a true culinary find.
1
Take a medium pumpkin, wash it thoroughly, and carefully cut it in half. Remove the flesh along with the seeds and use a sharp knife to trim the inner walls of the pumpkin.
- Pumpkin: 1 piece
2
Prepare a vegetable side dish. Slice cucumbers and tomatoes, finely chop carrots and onions, and pass the pumpkin flesh with seeds through a meat grinder. Apples, pears, grapefruits, etc. can also be used. Mix everything and place it in bowls made from pumpkin.
- Cucumbers: 4 pieces
- Tomatoes: 5 piece
- Carrot: 2 pieces
- Onion: 2 heads
- Pumpkin: 1 piece
- Apple: 2 pieces
- Grapefruits: 0.5 piece
3
Add salt (2 teaspoons per liter of water) and red ground pepper to boiling water, then pour this solution over the vegetables in the pumpkin, completely covering them. Divide the garlic into cloves and evenly distribute them in two bowls.
- Water: 1 glass
- Salt: 0.5 teaspoon
- Ground red pepper: to taste
- Garlic: 1 head
4
Leave the pumpkin at room temperature for fermentation for 3-4 days, then it can be consumed. The resulting brine can also be used as an addition to breakfast and lunch, diluted with boiled water.