Third course Pumpkin stuffed with salt-aged dried beef

A whole and majestic pumpkin on the center of tables to be shared with friends and family is kind of a common scene on a Brazilian family table for a luxurious dinner. 

For the Jungle Brazil Christmas feast menu, we present a classic version of Pumpkin stuffed with creamy Salt Aged Dried Beef stew. 

Salt aged dried beef is a big tradition in Brazil. There are few traditional methods to preserve the meat salting it and letting it dry. On Jungle Brazil Catering we are supplied by Coisa Nossa, growing female-owned brand, that preserves meat using traditional Brazilian Northeastern techniques in the Netherlands. 

For this recipe, we rinsed and soaked  the beef in water for 24 hours (changing the water 3 times), so we get rid of the salt. After desalted we cooked the beef in a pressure cooker with an onion, some garlic gloves and 2 cloves until it got soft.

The pumpkin is pre roasted whole, so it gets soft then you can extract all seeds (save it for later). You may also use mini pumpkins, then one per person should be enough. 

Pumpkin stuffed with

salt-aged dried beef

Ingredients (10 servings)

1 medium pumpkin (about 3 kg)

1 tablespoon of oil

1 large chopped onion

1 chopped red pepper

500 g Salted Aged Dried Beef -already desalted, cooked and shredded

3 seedless tomatoes, chopped

1 small seedless chilli pepper, chopped

1 cup (tea) hot water

1 tablespoon of wheat flour

250ml of heavy cream

1 tablespoon of chopped parsley

1 tablespoon chopped green onions

1 tablespoon of chopped coriander

4 tablespoons grated old Gouda cheese

How to prepare

Wash the pumpkin, cover it with aluminium foil, place it on a baking sheet and take it to the medium oven (180°C), preheated, for 1 hour.

Remove it and, with a knife, cut a lid on the top of the pumpkin.

With a spoon, remove the seeds. Reserve.

In a pan, heat the oil and sauté the onion and pepper. Let it cook for 5 minutes.

Add the beef, tomatoes, pepper and hot water.

Let cook until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with wheat flour and boil until thickened.

Remove part of the pumpkin pulp and add to the sauté. If necessary add 1 pinch of salt.

Turn off the heat and add the heavy cream, parsley, chives and cilantro.

Place the beef stew inside the pumpkin, sprinkle it with the cheese and brush the outside of the pumpkin with olive oil.

Bake in a preheated medium-high oven (200°C) for about 20 minutes. Serve next.