Middle Eastern Beef and Pumpkin Pilaf with Pine Nuts and Feta

This Week

2 Dec - 8 Dec

Middle Eastern Beef and Pumpkin Pilaf with Pine Nuts and Feta

This cosy Middle Eastern-inspired pilaf features tender beef mince that’s cooked with aromatic spices like cumin, coriander and turmeric, with sweet pumpkin and plump currants. The mixture is then simmered with rice and stock and baked in the oven until it’s fluffy and fragrant.

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Meal Prep Guide

Prepare the pumpkin (store in an airtight container in the fridge).

Cut ¼ large pumpkin into very small cubes.

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Prepare the spice mix (store in an airtight container in the pantry).

Ingredients

2 tsp paprika
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin seeds
½-1 tsp chilli flakes

Method

Add all of the above spices to an airtight container.

Tips

This dish is delicious with a side of steamed green beans or a simple side salad.
If you don’t have a pan with a lid, you can cook it in a pan and then transfer to an oven-proof dish and cover it with tinfoil.
Make sure you cut the pumpkin into dice sized cubes so it cooks in time.

Shortcuts

Vegetables

Swap out the pumpkin for carrots or sweet potato or a mixture. Alternatively, you can leave out the pumpkin and serve alongside some crispy roasted cauliflower.
Swap out the coriander for parsley or mint.
Serve alongside some steamed green beans or a simple green salad.

Protein

To make this dish vegetarian you can swap out the mince for chickpeas. Follow all the same instructions but instead of frying off the mince, fry off 400g of tinned chickpeas (drained and rinsed) with the spices and 2 Tbsp of tomato paste before adding the rice, currants, stock and water.

Other

Swap out the pine nuts for roasted almonds.
Swap out basmati rice for jasmine rice.

Ingredients

1 brown onion (finely diced)
¼ large pumpkin (cut into dice sized cubes)
600g beef mince
2 garlic cloves (crushed)
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin seeds
½-1 tsp chilli flakes
2 Tbsp currants
1 cup basmati rice
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 cups chicken, beef or vegetable stock
100g feta (crumbled)

2 Tbsp toasted pine nuts
¼ cup coriander (finely chopped)
⅓ cup Greek yoghurt

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees, fan bake.
Add a generous drizzle of olive oil to a large sauté pan over medium heat; add the onion, pumpkin and a pinch of salt. Cook for 7-10 minutes until the pumpkin has slightly softened and the onions are translucent; remove from the pan and set aside.
Add a little more olive oil to the pan and turn up to a high heat. Add the mince and brown for 5 minutes before adding the garlic and spices; season generously with salt and pepper. Cook until the mince is nice and caramelised and any moisture has evaporated.
Add the pumpkin and onion back to the pan before adding the rice, raisins, tomato paste and stock; bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove from the heat, stir through the feta and pop the lid on; transfer to the oven to cook for 45 minutes. *If the pan you’re using doesn’t have a lid you can transfer to an ovenproof dish and cover it with tinfoil.
Remove from the oven and dollop over the Greek yoghurt and scatter over the fresh coriander and toasted pine nuts.

Variations

Vegetables

Swap out the pumpkin for carrots or sweet potato or a mixture. Alternatively, you can leave out the pumpkin and serve alongside some crispy roasted cauliflower.
Swap out the coriander for parsley or mint.
Serve alongside some steamed green beans or a simple green salad.

Protein

To make this dish vegetarian you can swap out the mince for chickpeas. Follow all the same instructions but instead of frying off the mince, fry off 400g of tinned chickpeas (drained and rinsed) with the spices and 2 Tbsp of tomato paste before adding the rice, currants, stock and water.

Other