Chef Bonnie Morales is a longtime supporter of STEELPORT, especially favoring her STEELPORT 8” Chef Knife and 4” Paring Knife to create the exceptional dishes found in her award-winning Portland restaurant, Kachka. Below is a perfect fall/winter recipe of Pumpkin Dolmas stuffed with lamb, rice and spices, which Bonnie shared with us from her celebrated cookbook, Kachka: A return to Russian Cooking.
This dish allows you to proactive a variety of knife skills with your STEELPORT, including carving into a winter squash, trimming and cubing lamb shoulder, peeling, coring and dicing apples, and finely cutting fresh herbs - the end result is a showstopper dish that would make an impressive centerpiece on any holiday table.
Armenian Pumpkin Dolmas
долма из тыквы по-армянски
This might come as a surprise, but dolmas are not just stuffed grape leaves. A dolma refers to any stuffed vegetable, from the Middle East to the Balkans to the Caucasus. Here, pumpkins (or winter squash) are stuffed with plov, a Central Asian take on rice pilaf. The warming cinnamon and cooling fresh mint, rich lamb and tart sour cherries, all bathing the rice and baked squash – needless to say, your kitchen will smell amazing. You can easily omit the lamb to make a spectacular side for a holiday table, or a vegetarian friendly main course.
Yields 4 Generous Servings
- 4 small, round squashes (1½ to 2 pounds each) with flat bottoms, such as Heart of Gold, Sweet Dumpling, Carnival, or Sugar Pumpkins
- 1 pound lamb shoulder, fat cap and silver skin/connective tissue removed, cut into ½-inch chunks
- 1⅓ cups long-grain white rice
- 1 large apple (whichever kind is eating best at the moment), peeled, cored, and cut into a ¼-inch dice
- ¼ cup dried unsweetened sour cherries
- ¼ cups golden raisins
- 1½ tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 handful fresh mint leaves, cut into thin ribbons, with some reserved for garnish
- 1⅓ to 2 cups garlic broth (page 353) or stock/broth of your choosing
- ½ stick (¼ cup) unsalted butter, divided into 4 tablespoon-sized pieces
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
Wash and dry the squash. Being careful to avoid cutting stem (it can damage a knife) and not to torque your knife, carve out the tops of the squash like you're carving a pumpkin, and set the tops aside. Scoop out and discard the seeds and any stringy pulp. If the squash are wobbly, you can shave a bit off the bottom of each to help them stay upright.
In a large bowl, mix together the lamb, rice, apple, dried fruit, salt, spices, pepper, and mint. Place your squashes into a casserole dish and stuff each squash with ¼ of the filling mixture. Pour ⅓ cup broth in each squash to moisten the mixture, then top each with 1 tablespoon of butter.
Cover each squash with its reserved top and bake for 3 hours, uncovered, or until the rice in the center is done, and the squash has darkened and softened. Check halfway through, and add more broth to moisten if needed.
To serve, remove the squash caps and sprinkle on the roserved mint. If serving whole, replace the caps. If serving smaller portions, discard the caps and cut each squash in half to reveal the filling.
Recipe from the award-winning cookbook “Kachka: A return to Russian Cooking” by Bonnie Frumkin Morales with Deena Prichep, Photograph by Leela Cyd.