Pumpkin Casserole with Semolina and Vanilla

Name: Pumpkin Casserole with Semolina and Vanilla: Easy Dessert
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Pumpkin 1 kg; Eggs 3; Sugar 1 cup (180 g); Milk 0.5 cup (100 ml); Semolina 2 tbsp (24 g); Vanilla, vegetable oil (for greasing the pan) to taste; Powdered sugar, honey, nuts for serving

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A homemade pumpkin casserole is a tasty, easy dessert with few ingredients. Its base is pumpkin flesh, lightly boiled or baked. Eggs hold everything together, and wheat flour or semolina gives the finished dessert its firmness. If you like, you can vary the sweetness widely.

Casseroles are usually made with a puree of vegetables or fruit, or finely mashed cottage cheese. There are also dishes with fairly large pieces of ingredients: moussaka, various lasagnas or pasta pie. But the basic principle is always the same: mixing the main ingredient with binders. To get a nice crust, the top is often brushed with egg or sprinkled with cheese.

The typical binder for the base of baked dishes is eggs. They hold any components together, whether pasta, vegetable puree or ground meat. Sometimes hard cheese is used. When the vegetables are pureed, baked dishes come out very tender, even jelly-like. That is why flour, semolina or starch is added to the mixture in such cases.

Using pumpkin as the main ingredient is quite popular. Pumpkin is an inexpensive and common vegetable. It is available most of the year and keeps very well. You can often find ripe, very sweet pumpkins with beautiful orange flesh. Some varieties have special flavor qualities and make excellent candied pumpkin and pumpkin dessert.

Try to buy a very ripe pumpkin with no sign of astringency. Ideally the flesh should be slightly sweet and firm. A nice orange color also shows in the result: the pumpkin casserole will look bright.

To get a smooth puree from firm pumpkin, peel it and boil it briefly. Alternatively, bake it until the flesh is easy to mash into a puree. Then add flavorings to the puree: most often vanilla, sugar and an egg and milk mixture. For a denser dessert, use semolina or ordinary wheat flour. The finished mixture is quite runny; during baking it “sets” thanks to the eggs. My daughter and I decided to make a casserole with a delicate, jelly-like texture, so there were not many binding ingredients.

7 ingredientsTo the recipe

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Ingredients

2 servings

Pumpkin 1 kg
Eggs 3
Sugar 1 cup
(180 g)
Milk 0.5 cup
(100 ml)
Semolina 2 tbsp
(24 g)
Vanilla, vegetable oil (for greasing the pan) to taste
Powdered sugar, honey, nuts for serving

Step-by-step recipe

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For a really tasty pumpkin casserole with a nice color, take the ripest, sweetest pumpkin, or a piece of one. As a rule, pumpkin flesh is hard to call soft, it is very firm. So for a good, fine puree you need to boil or bake it briefly. Take the milk and eggs out of the fridge ahead of time.
The pumpkin needs to be peeled. Don’t use a ceramic knife for this, as you will most likely break it. Carefully cut off the hard rind, taking the layer that differs in color from the flesh. Use a spoon to scrape out the fibrous inner flesh with the seeds. Cut the flesh into cubes, add 0.5 cup of water (100 ml) and microwave for 2-3 mins.
Each cube should be pierced by a knife without much effort. If needed, increase the time. Drain the water from the bowl and blend the pieces into a smooth puree. Then cool the puree to room temperature. It can be slightly warm, but it is important that the eggs don’t curdle.
Transfer the puree to a mixer bowl. Add the sugar and crack in the eggs. For an aromatic pumpkin casserole, add vanilla, preferably liquid concentrated extract. Also pour in 0.5 cup of regular low-fat milk (100 ml). Mix on low speed.
When the pumpkin puree is mixed with the rest of the ingredients and the sugar has dissolved, add two heaping tablespoons of semolina (36 g). Then mix thoroughly until completely smooth. The mixture has the consistency of thick kefir and pours easily from the bowl.
Prepare a metal baking pan, preferably with a removable bottom. Grease the bottom and sides with a little vegetable oil. Carefully pour all the prepared puree into the pan. By the way, the mixture contains no leavening, so it won’t rise much. If you like, the casserole can be thin or tall. Put the pan in an oven preheated to 180°C.
Usually, including the time needed to heat the pumpkin mixture, the casserole bakes for 30-40 mins. You can see the surface “set” and become springy and firm to the touch. Go by that sign. Don’t overbake the dessert or wait for it to brown. Then take the pan out of the oven and let it cool.
The pumpkin casserole is quite delicate, so take it out of the pan as carefully as you can. If the pan has a removable bottom, there will be no problem at all. Transfer the casserole to a plate and cut it into pieces.
Serve on a dessert plate. I suggest drizzling the dessert with a little flower honey and sprinkling it with walnut kernels. Or you can dust it with powdered sugar. I think a sprig of fresh mint won’t hurt either.