Move over Halloween, CHRISTMAS HAS ARRIVED!

As much as we love all things Halloween over here at CurlyEllie, we LOVE Christmas just as much!

Not only to we love Christmas, we also love to be able to reduce waste wherever we can!

So, got any leftover pumpkins and want to get in the Christmas spirit?

We’ve got you! We’ve been digging through some recipes to find a tasty way to use our pumpkins, and now we bring them to you!

Join us as we gracefully transition into fairy lights, baubles and tinsel!

So here’s a fab recipe we found:

• 400g Pumpkin (or squash if you have no pumpkins), chopped into small pieces (3 cups)
• 150g quinoa (3/4 cup)
• 1 large red onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• *120g almonds (1 cup) 
• *80g pistachios (1/2 cup)
• 40g dried cranberries (1/3 cup)
• *100g cooked peeled chestnuts (1/2 cup)
• 3 sage sprigs
• 3 rosemary sprigs
• 5 thyme sprigs
• 1/2 lemon, zest
• 1/4tsp cayenne
• sea salt & pepper to taste
• 3tbsp ground flaxseed + 6tbsp water

TOPPING:

• chopped pistachios
• pomegranate

*The CurlyEllie Collection and the CurlyEllie Intense Collection are nut free, so if you are allergic you can toast and season some chickpeas to add some crunch! 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Grease 10" x 4½" loaf tin and line with baking paper. Use two long rectangles that you cross in the middle. Set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 200°C (390F)
3. Peel the squash, scrape out the seeds and chop into small pieces. Place onto a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, season with sea salt, add couple of sprigs of thyme and roast for about 30 minutes until soft.
4. Measure 3/4 cup of quinoa, rinse under running water and place into medium pot. Add 1 1/2 cup of water and bring to boil. Leave to simmer for about 15-20 minutes until all of the water has been absorbed. It's best if the quinoa is slightly overcooked. Leave to stand for 5 minutes and fluff up with a fork.
5. Drizzle little olive oil onto frying pan, add chopped red onions and cook for about 10 minutes until soften. Finely chop the garlic and add to the onions and leave to cook for another couple of minutes. Take off the heat and leave to cool down.
6. Mix 3tbsp of ground flaxseed with 6tbsp of water and set aside to thicken.
7. Place almonds and pistachios into food processor or blender and blitz few times until broken down and coarsely ground. Scoop into a large mixing bowl.
8. Roughly chop cranberries and add to the nuts.
9. Chop chestnuts into small pieces and add to the nut mixture.
10. Pick and roughly chop the sage leaves. Finely chop rosemary. Pick the thyme leaves. Add all to the nut mix. Add lemon zest, cayenne, sea salt, black pepper and mix to combine.
11. Now stir in quinoa, red onion and flax eggs. Taste for seasoning and finally fold in squash.
12. Lower the oven to 180°C (350F)
13. Spoon the mixture into prepared tin, level the top and press tightly down. The mix should come all the way to the top.
14. Bake for about 45 minutes until set and toasted on top.
15. Remove from the oven and leave to cool down for 10 minutes.
16. Place serving dish on top and carefully flip over to release from the tin.
17. Decorate with some chopped pistachios and pomegranate kernels.
18. Enjoy!