When we were thinking how to prepare a pumpkin, we just thought about red curry paste!! And it works great! I added a squid and it was fantastic. Cleaning is a pain (and I’m not even talking about filling), but when you get it on a plate, you’ll be surprised.
For 2 portions
200 g squid
2 strips of bacon
50 g panko breadcrumbs
1 clove of garlic
30 g feta cheese
1 Hokkaido pumpkin
1 tbsp of red curry paste
1 tbsp chopped basil
1 tbsp parsley
50 ml whipping cream
200 ml milk
2 tbsp sugar
150 g butter
salt, pepper
First, clean the squid. I chose smaller ones, but if you want to make it easier buy a little bigger (pre-cleaned tubes are available too). Rinse the insides with water, pull out the dirt and cut out the head from the tentacles right under eyes. The next step is to prepare the filling. Cut the bacon in small pieces and fry it to golden brown. Add the breadcrumb, little butter and finely grated garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Add finely chopped basil and parsley. Pour in 50 ml whipped cream, add feta and mix well. Fill the squid up to ¾ and close it with a tooth pick to keep the filling inside.
Now prep the pumpkin. You don’t have to peel it, just cut it in half and spoon out the pulp with the seeds. Slice the flesh to smaller pieces, sprinkle with sugar and salt and put a little bit of butter on each piece. Bake at 180 degrees for about 25 minutes until soft. Heat a little bit of olive oil in the pan, add the curry paste and fry off. Add the roasted pumpkin, milk and let it boil. Mix with the blender and add the rest of the butter. Season with some honey.
In the end, fry gently the stuffed squid in hot oil: it takes about 2 minutes and just before the end, add the tentacles. After cooking let it rest for minute and cut to a smaller pieces. Garnish with some purée, fresh basil and edible flowers! Enjoy!