Here is another perfect pumpkin dish for this autumn. Everything can be made out of pumpkins; pumpkin soup was just the beginning of the pumpkin cooking evolution. So this time I made pumpkin fritters. You will enjoy them, too. They are soft with a little sweet taste and with a great autumn orange colour. You can use any kind of pumpkin you like. I used the butternut squash.
Pumpkin fritters are perfect alone or with some chicken or vegetables for dinner or lunch. Therefore, I also made some chicken skewers with green bell-pepper and in addition to that, some young green pea pods.
Ingredients for ca 8 pumpkin fritters:
- ½ of Butternut squash (ca 1,5 kg squash)
- 1 egg
- 3 Tbsp of breadcrumbs
- 3 Tbsp of flour (maybe you’ll need less)
- 1 spring onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- olive oil
Ingredients for four chicken skewers:
- 200-300 g of chicken breast (sliced in ca 2 cm pieces)
- 1 green bell pepper
- a handful of young green pea pods
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
First of all, cut and peel the butternut squash. Using a very sharp peeler will make it easier. Then cut the butternut squash in cubes (ca 3-4 cm) and place them in one layer in a large pan. Furthermore, pour in some hot water (enough to cover the pumpkin), cover the pan and simmer for 6-8 minutes or until the pumpkin gets tender.
In the meantime, prepare the chicken skewers. Wash, clean and cut the bell pepper in ca 3 cm big pieces. Take four wooden sticks and place chicken and pepper alternately on each of them. Drizzle them with some olive oil and season well.
Furthermore, remove the pumpkin from the pan and place it in a bowl. Since I used the same pan also for the fritters, simply wipe it off with a paper towel. Mash the pumpkin gently using a fork (by leaving some smaller chunks) and let it cool down until you’ll be able to handle the mixture with your hands. In addition, clean and chop the garlic and spring onion.
Now take a grilling pan and heat it. Once it gets hot, place in the chicken skewers and grill them on each side until golden brown. Once done, put on a tray and cover with some aluminium foil to keep warm.
Finally, add the garlic, onion and the egg to the mashed pumpkin. Mix to combine all together. While stirring add alternately breadcrumbs and flour, one spoon at a time, until you get a nice texture. Because you need to make patties out of it, you don’t want the mixture to be runny. I rather add more breadcrumbs (that absorb the moisture and give some crunch) than flour. Season with salt and pepper and shape the mixture into patties.
Afterwards, heat a couple of spoons of olive oil in a pan. Then add the pumpkin patties and brown them for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden. Be careful when flipping them over. The patties are really soft, so try to be gentle but quick.
At the end, just before serving, quickly blanch the young green pea pods. Then remove from the pan and season with some salt.
Serve the warm pumpkin fritters with the chicken skewers and a couple of green pea pods. Pumpkin fritters are also great as a single dish with just some creamy yoghurt or horseradish dip.
Enjoy!
