Lately, I’ve been indulging in baked pumpkin gratin, especially enriched with seeds like sesame or mixed. It’s great with all kinds of seeds!
Baking pumpkin in the oven is the simplest thing in the world and allows you to get a delicious side dish effortlessly, considering you don’t even need to peel it, just wash the pumpkin well, cut it, and pop it in the oven.
Discovering that the skin is edible was really a revelation for me back in the days of my first oven-baked pumpkin 🙂 so much so that I even wrote it in the recipe title! (Baked Pumpkin, Skin Included).
After that minimal recipe, where I dressed the pumpkin only with oil, garlic, and rosemary, I tried richer dressings, also intrigued by the many recipe photos circulating on the web this season. But how can you resist? You have to try them all!
So I started with a simple pumpkin gratin with breadcrumbs, then tried adding sesame to the breadcrumbs, then tried without breadcrumbs with just sesame and pumpkin seeds, then tried with sesame and poppy seeds, and also with breadcrumbs and parmesan, breadcrumbs seasoned with garlic, parsley, and chili pepper, and then I tried changing the cooking method and cooking it also…
…well, I won’t tell you everything today, I’ll share this last experiment in a separate recipe! 🤗
Of all the variants I’ve listed, I’ll share photos of the versions with breadcrumbs, sesame, and pumpkin seeds, but I suggest you try them all, they’re all worth a taste!
Are you ready?
👇 Then, I suggest you try my other pumpkin recipes as well, like these: 👇
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall, Winter, and Spring
Ingredients
- 14.1 oz pumpkin
- 1.4 oz extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 1.1 oz breadcrumbs
- 0.35 oz sesame
- mixed seeds
- extra virgin olive oil
Tools
- Baking Tray
- Parchment Paper
How to Prepare Baked Pumpkin Gratin
Wash and dry the pumpkin. Cut it, remove the seeds and fibers, and slice it into the desired quantity.
👉 Sometimes pumpkin can be difficult to cut, either because it’s too hard or because the piece is too small or too large. In these cases, it’s better not to worry too much about the beauty of the slices and cut it in the way that seems safest (better uneven slices than risking cutting a finger).
The thickness of the slices can depend on the variety of pumpkin or on whether you decide to peel it or not. For example, with a butternut squash that had rather hard skin, I preferred to cut it into small, thin pieces, like this:
In this case, since the pieces are small, I overlapped them slightly.
Otherwise, as in the following photo where the slices are thicker, it’s preferable not to overlap them, perhaps trying to use the space on the tray as best as possible.
In any case, before arranging the pumpkin slices, cover the baking tray or oven plate with a sheet of parchment paper.
Bake the pumpkin at 392°F for about 15 minutes, or at 356°F for 20 minutes. Consider that the time may vary depending on the thickness of the slices.
For the pumpkin cut into small slices (with breadcrumbs and sesame) I first did a half-cooking without breadcrumbs and seeds, seasoned only with oil and garlic:
Then I sprinkled the pumpkin with breadcrumbs, distributed the sesame on top, and put it back in the oven to finish cooking and gratinate.
For the version with only sesame and pumpkin seeds, the cooking is even simpler. I distributed the seeds (and a pinch of thyme), drizzled a little oil, and baked.
I’ve found that this variety of pumpkin (hokkaido) cooks faster and the skin cooks better. Therefore, it’s more suitable to be cut into thicker slices.
For the version with breadcrumbs I used a violin squash (with wrinkled skin). From my experience, wrinkled skin requires a slightly longer cooking time, so I prefer to slice it thinner. Optionally use butternut squash, with smooth skin.
And which variety of pumpkin do you prefer? Give me some tips so I can try them all! 😃
If you like pumpkin as much as I do, don’t miss my other recipes! They are all in this collection:
No Salt Tips
No salt in my baked pumpkin gratin. 😉 Using seeds is a great way to add flavor without salt. Try it!
If you’re interested in reducing or eliminating salt, always remember to:
– Reduce salt gradually, the palate needs to get used to it slowly and shouldn’t notice the progressive reduction.
– Use spices. Chili pepper, pepper, curry, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cumin…
– Use aromatic herbs. Basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, mint…
– Use seeds. Sesame, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts…
– Use spicy vegetables or fruits. Garlic, onion, lemon, orange…
– Use my salt-free vegetable granules and gomasio.
– Prefer fresh foods.
– Avoid cooking in water, prefer cooking methods that do not disperse flavors (grill, foil, steam, microwave)
– Avoid bringing the salt shaker to the table!
– Occasionally allow yourself a break from the rules. It’s good for the mood and helps to persevere.
If you don’t want or can’t give up salt:
You can still try my recipes by salting according to your habits.
Follow Me!
In my new WhatsApp channel and on Instagram, on the Facebook page, on Pinterest and in my two groups: Catia’s group, in the kitchen and beyond and Exactly what I was looking for! and if you want… subscribe to my Newsletter
