pumpkin falafel burger in a pita pocket
My mom sent me 2 huge pumpkins and I already had one more sitting in my living room so it’s one of those weeks that anything I make includes pumpkin. These pumpkin falafel burgers are moist and tender. They are great in a toasted bun served with fries on the side, in a pita with hummus or plain served with salad. I served mine in pita pockets with mixed greens, red onion, cubed cucumber and garlicky hummus.
pumpkin falafel burgers
Ingredients
2 cups cooked chickpeas, drained
1 1/2 cup roasted pumpkin
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup parsley
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt
several dashes of freshly ground black pepper
pinch of chili powder
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
3/4 cup chickpea flour
In a food processor add the onion, garlic, parsley and chickpeas and pulse until chickpeas are broken. Add the pumpkin and spices and pulse few more times. Transfer to a big mixing bowl, add the breadcrumbs, baking powder and chickpea flour and mix with your hands for about 2 minutes. Place the mixture in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Form the mixture into burger patties, place on a baking sheet, brush with olive oil and bake in preheated oven at 180C/350F for 30 minutes, flipping once. Enjoy!
Until I met my husband this was the only pumpkin pie I ever had. And I believed that this was the only reason that people need pumpkins for. For our first thanks giving dinner he said that it’s a tradition to make pumpkin pie for dessert. So I was really frustrated when I served my pie and he said this is not a pumpkin pie. Of course at the end he loved it! You can make this with store bought phyllo or you can make your own.
Greek pumpkin pie in the oven
For the phyllo
1 kg/2 pounds all purpose flour
1/2 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
pinch of salt
1 tsp sugar
water (as much as needed so the dough will be soft but no sticky)
pumpkin pie out of the oven
For the filling
1 kg/2 pounds shredded fresh orange pumpkin
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup walnut pieces
1 cup raisins
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
powdered sugar and cinnamon for topping the pie
In a big mixing bowl you mix all the ingredients for the phyllo until you have a soft but not sticky dough. Cover the dough and you let it chil in the refrigerator for about 1 hour. In another mixing bowl mix all the ingredients for the filling and set aside. Separate the dough in about 14 equal pieces/ small balls. Dust the surface you will be making your phyllos with flour and use a rolling pin to roll each ball into a thin phyllo. With a fork cut each phyllo in half. In the center of the first cut phyllo you will be filling, place a generous amount of pumpkin filling, roll to cover and then twist the phyllo to make a “snail”. Look here, here and here to see what I am talking about because unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures while I was making the pie. That “snail” you made now place it in the center of a round greased baking pan. Continue by filling the other phyllos, but instead of making snails, roll them around that first snail you already placed in the baking pan. Brush the top phyllos with oil and bake in preheated oven at 180C/350F for about 40 minutes. Serve warm, topped with powdered sugar and cinnamon.
I don’t consider myself a big fan of soups, but somehow I end up cooking soup at least once a week. This week, as I am still in holidays mode, I made this wonderful pumpkin soup. We are spending the holidays at my mom’s house, in a small village in North Greece. Peanut loves it here but for Almond was his first trip. I am very happy to see them getting along that good. They both love my mom’s old burner stove and they spend all day sleeping or playing in front of the fire. I can talk about these two for hours.
my adorable kitties enjoying the heat
Anyway, my mom’s garden is still full of huge pumpkins so the first thing I did once we got here was of course to pick and cut one. It’s been a crazy pumpkin week. Except this creamy and flavorful pumpkin soup, I also make Greek style pumpkin pie, a pumpkin new year’s cake and many many cookies. Will post all the recipes in the next few days, but let’s start with this one first!
Pumpkin Velouté
Ingredients
1 kg/2 pounds fresh pumpkin cubes
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 carrots, cut in small pieces
8 cups vegetable broth
2 cups soy milk
1 cup chestnuts cut in small pieces
salt to taste
Pumpkin Velouté
In a big pot heat the olive oil over medium heat and saute the onion and the spices. Add the carrots and the pumpkin and saute for a minute. Add the vegetable broth, bring to a boil, lower the heat to medium-low and cook for about 40 minutes, until the pumpkin is fully cooked and soft. Add the soy milk and season with salt to taste. Blend the soup using an immersion blender adding more vegetable broth or soy milk depending on how thick or think you want your soup to be. Serve topped with the crumbled chestnuts. Enjoy!
peanut warming his butt
almond posing as Mr. T
