Hello!
Two weeks ago, my cousin Nazlah came over to show me a recipe that she learned from her Portuguese tutor when she lived in Brazil. She arrived with all the ingredients, including a pumpkin that she went hunting for (in supermarkets, not fields), because she wanted to make sure it was a cute one.
The dish involves pumpkin, shrimp and…doesn’t this already make you feel like you’re in a cosy hallmark movie? You serve it in the pumpkin and as you can see from the pictures, it looks really festive. It also adds so much flavour to the dish.
For as long as I’ve known her — all my life really, since she’s my cousin — Nazlah has had this infectious energy and is full of life, like mum. I think one of her superpowers as an adult is being really good at hosting, decorating and setting a beautiful table. Ina Garten, but hot. Spending time with her has made me so excited to decorate for Christmas. I’m going to get her to share her tips on setting a table with us.
Nazlah says this dish is typically served with herbed rice and beans. I ate it with some boiled pasta stirred through and topped with chilli crisp. I was thinking it would be nice to add some orzo and a little water or stock to the pan when making the filling, and to add the whole thing into the pumpkin to bake. This would make it a one-pot meal, a one-pumpkin meal, if you will.
RECIPE: Camarão na Moranga (Shrimp in Pumpkin)
Ingredients
A small, cute pumpkin
200 g prawns, cleaned and deveined
1 small onion, chopped
1 tbsp cream cheese
1/4 cup fresh cream
2 tbsp tomato puree (or just add ketchup, which is what we did and it was great)
5 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp coriander powder
Juice from 1/2 a lime
2-3 tbsp butter
A little chopped spring onion for garnish
Salt
Method
Add the lime and half the garlic to the shrimp and set aside.
Cut the top off the pumpkin and clean out the seeds from inside.
Microwave the pumpkin for 2 minutes.
Melt the butter in a pan and sauté the shrimp and garlic with a little salt until just cooked. Set aside.
Add a little more butter if needed, and sauté the onion till it turns translucent.
Add in the rest of the garlic and sauté. Add in the tomato puree and stir for a minute.
Add the shrimp back in, along with the coriander powder, cream cheese and fresh cream.
Just before it comes to a boil, take it off the flame.
Add the mixture into the pumpkin, cover with the pumpkin lid and add bake in a preheated oven at 180 Celsius for 20 minutes.
Garnish with chopped spring onions and serve warm!