A lunch guaranteed to fill – an oven-roasted pumpkin with edible skin and a fragrant, spicy meat and cheese filling.

Ingredients
1 baking pumpkin (around 1kg, e.g., Hokkaido pumpkin)
300g lean mincemeat
300g canned tomato puree
80g Feta cheese
30g grated Tilsit or Cheddar cheese
4–6 tablespoons chopped parsley and cilantro
2 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons sugar
1 onion
Oil for frying
Salt to taste
Pinch of chili powder

Pick a pumpkin that doesn’t wobble when sitting. Prepare for filling: remove the cap and the seeds, if needed, carve some. Hear oil in skillet, fry chopped onion until translucent. Add minced garlic and stir-fry for a moment. Add canned tomatoes and chopped herbs (you can chop the parsley and cilantro with the stalks). Sauté for a few minutes, add salt to taste (keep in mind you will be adding Feta cheese), chili powder or flakes, and sugar to balance the acidity of the tomatoes.
Add crumbled Feta cheese and half of the Tilsit cheese to the meat and stir. Fill the pumpkin with the mince, top with the rest of the Tilsit cheese. Place the cap back on the pumpkin, adjust so it covers the hole. Place the pumpkin in a rimmed baking tray (in case of a leak) and bake at 200 C for about 40 minutes, until the pumpkin starts turning brown from the outside. Serve sliced. Goes well with boiled rice.