Preparation & Cooking Time: 45 mins - 1 hour
Ingredients:
- 1 Hokaido pumpkin
Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 170°C (or 340°F).
2. Wash and cut pumpkin into half.
3. Remove seeds and pulp.
4. Place in an oven-proof flat dish face down and bake for 30 - 45 minutes until tender.
5. Remove from oven, cut into slices and serve. For baked pumpkin, you can eat the flesh including the skin (the skin contains the most vitamins).
Babies:
For babies from 8 months: Cut into cubes as finger food, or mash into puree to use as spread on bread.
For babies less than 8 months: Mash with fork or blender to make into puree. Add water as desired for desired consistency.
Storage:
1. Cool down, pour into portion size small container and freeze (can store up to 8 weeks).
2. Thaw overnight in the fridge and serve cold or warm.
Nutritional Value:
The orange colour of pumpkin tells us that it is rich in beta-carotene, an important anti-oxidant that the body converts to vitamin A. It also contains vitamin C, potassium and calcium.
Pumpkins contain some of the best nutritional compounds ever. They are highly loaded with Vitamin A and beta carotene. Beta Carotene is one of the plant carotenoids that when eaten and digested, turns into Vitamin A in the human body. Beta Carotene may reduce the risk of cancer as well as heart disease. It also may be responsible for combating or putting off the degenerative effects of ageing.
Pumpkins are also good sources of potassium, protein, and iron. Pumpkin seeds also contain a good amount of protein and iron so eating the seeds does provide some nutritive value. We don't recommend that you offer your baby or toddler pumpkin seeds however. Pumpkins are wonderfully low in fat, low in calories but high in fiber.
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Additional Information:
I am falling in love with pumpkins!!! There is something about them that makes them look very cute and irresistible... maybe the shape or the bright orange colour. But Florian got tired of eating pumpkins the Chinese way. So this evening I baked the pumpkin instead. The baking method preserves the most of pumpkin’s nutrients and sweetness. I didn't add anything - neither sugar nor salt. The natural and sweet taste of pumpkin just tastes best to me. My parents-in-law were here for dinner and tried pumpkin for the first time in their lives. They and my Significant Other, except J:-(, really liked the baked pumpkin. It is really sweet and tasty - baked pumpkin on its own. Don't put anything else on it as recommended by other recipes, or you will really just spoil the taste. But you have to use Hokaido pumpkin to achieve the sweetness.
References:
http://ohsheglows.com/2012/09/11/all-natural-pumpkin-butter-from-scratch-many-ways-to-use-it/
http://ohsheglows.com/2013/09/17/lightened-up-raw-pecan-pumpkin-butter/
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodtip&dbid=35
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