Baked Pumpkin with Soy Béchamel

This cute dish features bechamel and ‘bean-naise’ sauces (‘bean-naise’ sauce is my own invention—my version of a béarnaise sauce) and is perfect to use when entertaining.

RECIPE

Ingredients

2kg (4lb 8oz) Japanese pumpkin

Super easy gluten and dairy free béchamel

60g (2oz) glutinous rice flour (sweet rice flour)
600ml (21fl oz) soymilk
1 teaspoon MSG-free vegetable stock powder
²/3 teaspoon sea salt
Pinch of nutmeg
Pinch of white pepper

Bean-naise sauce

150g (5oz) tomato paste
2 tablespoons red wine
1 tablespoon miso
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil for frying
1 tin (400g/14oz) red kidney beans
1 garlic clove, minced
½ onion, chopped finely
100g (3½oz) mushroom, chopped finely
60g (2oz) walnuts, chopped finely

Topping

2 tablespoons of your favourite nuts chopped Soymilk for brushing

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).

2. To make the béchamel sauce, put glutinous rice flour into a bowl and add ¹/3 of soymilk slowly—mix very well with a whisk.

3. Add the rest of the soymilk and mix.

4. Strain the mixture into a saucepan and heat over a medium heat. Add the stock powder, sea salt, nutmeg and pepper, stir occasionally and cook until thick.

5. To make bean-naise sauce, mix together the tomato paste, red wine, miso, sea salt and soy sauce then set aside.Heat oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add garlic and onion and sauté until soft. Add mushroom and walnuts and cook further until mushroom is soft and add sauce mixture. Cook until sauce thickens. Set aside.

6. Next, use a sharp knife to remove the top of the pumpkin and set aside. Scrape out and discard the seeds and fibre.

7. Lay a large, lightly oiled sheet of foil over the base and sides of a baking tray and brush with a little olive oil. Place the pumpkin on the tray, putting the bean-naise sauce inside the pumpkin.

8. Place pumpkin lid on top and bring sides of the foil up around pumpkin. Cover top with more lightly oiled foil so pumpkin is completely enclosed. Bake in the oven for 1.5 hours

9. Open the foil and the lid of the pumpkin and pour half of the béchamel sauce on top. Brush on the soymilk and sprinkle the nuts. Put back in the oven and bake for further 30 minutes or until tender (test by piercing the flesh with a skewer).

10. Serve pumpkin and filling as a dish on its own with the rest of the warm béchamel sauce on the side.

Gluten-free option: Use tamari instead of soy sauce and use rice miso, not barley miso

This recipe is from Cooking With Soy. Want to learn more healthy Japanese cooking? Grab my Cooking With Soy for real knowledge of Japanese cuisine and easy recipes using soy!

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Baked Pumpkin with Soy Béchamel