Carbonada Criolla

Tonight I made this hearty stew for my brother and myself. The recipe is from a Joost Elffers book about pumpkins, and I was immediately drawn the recipe because it comes from Argentina, where I lived for a year.

The hollowing out the pumpkin was time consuming but rewarding. It looked fabulous as a serving vessel and the whole thing was delicious.

Ingredients:
1 medium pumpkin
2 medium sized yellow onions
butter
sugar
olive oil
4 garlic cloves
2 pounds lamb back ribs (or another cut if you prefer)
4 medium tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
stock
bouquet garni (I used rosemary and thyme)
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
1 potato
1 can sweet corn
1 can peaches



First, cut a lid on top of the pumpkin, and remove the fibers and seeds. Scrape as much pumpkin from the inside as you can without letting the walls get too thin. Brush the inside with butter and sugar, then bake for 30 minutes.

Lightly saute the onions and garlic in olive oil. Transfer to a large sauce pan. Lightly brown the lamb in the pan, then add it to the onion mixture. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, the bouquet garni and enough stock to cover the mixture. Add a generous amount of salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for about 45 minutes.

Add the pumpkin and potato and top it off with stock. Simmer for another 30 minutes before adding the corn and peaches. Remove the bouquet and ladle the stew into the pumpkin.



And there you have it. As easy as pumpkin lamb stew...served in a pumpkin...